Russia's fleet of LNG carriers operating outside conventional shipping channels is showing signs of strain as winter approaches, with vessels idling, turning back or struggling through ice. The slowdown follows 13 deliveries to China's Beihai terminal since late August, reports Ventura, California's gCaptain.

Two medium ice-class carriers, Vokshod and Buran, recently completed difficult voyages through the ice-covered Arctic with the aid of nuclear icebreakers. Analysts say these may be the final Arc4-class transits along the Northern Sea Route until mid-summer next year.

Other vessels have made abrupt course changes. LNGC Iris offloaded cargo at Beihai on October 2 but returned two weeks later after a U-turn off China's eastern coast. Observers suggested the cargo may have been rejected for being off specification.

In the North Atlantic, sister ship Zarya turned back near the Faroe Islands on November 6 and now appears bound for Murmansk. It had loaded cargo at Arctic LNG 2 on October 31, the 12th and final shipment from the plant this year.

Novatek's logistics are shifting into winter mode. Arctic Pioneer loaded at Kamchatka's Koryak FSU on October 30 but returned after waiting outside Bechevinskaya Bay. Christophe de Margerie, the only Arc7 ice-class LNG carrier, arrived at Koryak on November 5 and has remained at anchor since.

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