Second sanctioned LNG ship this year stops at Russia's Arctic LNG 2, data shows

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -A liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessel targeted by U.S. sanctions docked at Russia's Arctic LNG 2 plant this week, the second sanctioned vessel to stop at the plant so far this year, shiptracking data from LSEG and Kpler showed.

This could indicate that loadings at Arctic LNG 2, which is also subject to the same Western sanctions over Russia's conflict with Ukraine, have resumed.

The tanker Voskhod arrived at the Arctic LNG 2 plant on Wednesday, with Kpler data showing it was unloaded when heading towards the plant.

The first vessel to arrive this year at Arctic LNG 2 was the Iris, which loaded a cargo at the plant on June 26. It was the ninth cargo loaded from the plant, and the vessel is currently near Kolguyev island in the west of Russia, according to shiptracking data.

In October, the U.S. Department of State had imposed sanctions on registered owners and managers of several LNG vessels including Voskhod, which was previously called North Mountain.

While Voskhod's registered owner remains LNG Beta Shipping, its ship or commercial manager changed on May 23 to Igarka OOO, which has a registered address in Moscow, according to shipping database Equasis.

Reuters was not able to find contact information for LNG Beta Shipping or Igarka.

The Arctic LNG 2 project, which is 60%-owned by Russia's Novatek, was set to become one of the country's largest LNG plants, with eventual output of 19.8 million metric tons per year.

However, its prospects have been clouded by the sanctions and it has struggled to sell LNG from the project.

(Reporting by Emily Chow; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)