Arctic tourist resort is becoming shadow tanker hub

The remote settlement located on the coast of the Barents Sea used to be a lively fishing village. But over the past decade, it is the tourist industry that has been the main driver for development in Teriberka.

A significant part of the about 500 local inhabitants are involved in serving visitors from all over Russia, and beyond. In the course of the past few years, thousands of tourists have paid a visit to Teriberka where they have hunted for the northern lights, gone on whale safaris, or simply enjoyed the magnificent Arctic landscape of the place.

But lately, there is also another industry that is looking towards Teriberka. LNG tankers are now frequent guests in the waters off the coast of the resort.

On February 10, three LNG tankers could be seen drifting few kilometres from Teriberka. Among them were the Le Perouse and Seapeak Yamal. In the area was also the offshore service vessel Izumrud.

The carriers are likely to be engaged in bunkering and in getting various supplies from land-based services in Teriberka. 

Ship traffic data from February 9 compiled by the Barents Observer show at least seven LNG carriers crisscrossing the waters near Teriberka and adjacent areas.

The traffic data also show that many of the tankers sailed into the Ura Bay where they reloaded LNG to or from the Saam FSU.

The data also show that the Christophe de Margerie, a 299-metre-long LNG carrier, made a rare visit to the western coast of the Rybachii Peninsula, only a few kilometres from the border with Norway.

Most of the seven LNG carriers that were seen along the coast of the Kola Peninsula on February 9 are on international sanction lists. The Iris, the Christophe de Margerie and the Arctic Mulan are all on the sanction lists of the EU, USA and several more countries, while the La Perouse is sanctioned by the EU and several more countries.

The Seapeak Yamal, the Boris Vilkitsky and the LNG Phecda are not on sanction lists. For now.

Russia has invested billions in the development of its LNG industry in the Arctic and major volumes of gas are now produced both at the Yamal LNG project and the Arctic LNG 2.

But the industry is under mounting pressure. The EU is phasing out all Russian LNG from its market and imports are due to come to a full halt in 2027.

Stringent sanctions have already been introduced against large parts of the industry. All activities related to the Arctic LNG 2 project are subject to sanctions. That includes the Saam FSU in the Ura Bay. The 400-metre-long terminal ship was deployed in the bay in the summer of 2023, but was not put into service by its owner Novatek for a long time. 

Only in 2025 did the company start active use of the Saam FSU, and in early 2026 the ship has been frequently visited by the carrier Christophe de Margerie and several more tankers. 

Also the brand new Aleksei Kosygin, Russia’s first domestically built Arc7 LNG carrier, has started to shuttle between the Saam FSU and the Arctic LNG 2 project.