Danish yard becomes last in Europe servicing Russia’s Arctic LNG fleet
Fayard’s Odense yard takes an Arc7 gas carrier ahead of a 2027 EU services ban
An Arc7 icebreaking LNG carrier, the Rudolf Samoylovich, has arrived at Denmark's Fayard yard in Odense for scheduled maintenance, underlining the facility's position as the last in Europe still servicing Russia's Arctic gas fleet. The ship is one of 14 Arc7 carriers built to serve Novatek's Yamal LNG project, chartered long term by Seapeak, Dynagas and MOL and able to break ice up to 2.1 m thick without escort.
Fayard's role has grown by default. Damen Shiprepair Brest in France stopped servicing the vessels in early 2025, leaving Odense as the only remaining European yard able to carry out planned maintenance. That window is closing: from 1 January 2027 the European Union will prohibit maritime services linked to Russian LNG exports, ending the ability of European yards to maintain the fleet and making this summer the final maintenance season.
Campaign group Urgewald has estimated that up to six Arc7 carriers could call at Fayard during 2026, naming vessels including the Georgiy Brusilov, Boris Davydov, Vladimir Vize, Nikolay Zubov and Nikolay Yevgenov as likely candidates. Danish politician Villy Sovndal has criticised the work, while Fayard says it complies with all Danish and EU sanctions and is not involved in transporting or trading Russian LNG.
Brussels has separately moved to stop the Arc7 carriers being sold into Russian ownership. Odense's location on the Yamal-to-Europe corridor keeps diversion time to a minimum, helping explain why the fleet has gravitated there in its final permitted season of European servicing.
