Pacific Gas denies link to tanker appearing to skirt sanctions on Russia
Chinese ship management company Pacific Gas said in a statement that it has no connection to a Chinese gas tanker idling off the coast of Malaysia that appears to be receiving fuel from a sanctioned Russian vessel.
Bloomberg reported last week that Pacific Gas took over ownership of the vessel, CCH Gas, earlier this year, citing people with direct knowledge of the matter. They asked not to be named, given the sensitivity of the issue.
“Pacific Gas has no ownership, control, or any other connection with the vessel concerned, and no connection, direct or indirect, with the alleged ship-to-ship operation,” the company said in the release dated Oct 27.
Satellite images taken on Oct 18 and Oct 23 show CCH Gas alongside a tanker that ship-tracking data shows is the Perle, a vessel carrying LNG fuel from Russia’s Portovaya plant, which was blacklisted by the US in January. The Perle itself is also sanctioned.
The parallel position of the two vessels is typical of a ship-to-ship transfer of fuel, which can take several days.
