Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the risk that Arc 7 ice class LNG carriers linked to UK actors could be sold, transferred, or reflagged to evade sanctions or services restrictions; and what steps her Department is taking to help prevent such vessels from supporting Russian LNG exports.
In November 2025, I announced our intention to impose a maritime services ban on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), cutting off access to UK services which facilitate these exports globally. The measure will be introduced this year and come into full effect at the end of the year. We have already taken strong action on Russian LNG, sanctioning 16 vessels to date as well as the Beihai LNG import terminal in China and Russia's flagship Arctic LNG2 project - which is now severely disrupted. In addition to the ban on Russian LNG imports to the UK which took effect in 2023, these actions demonstrate the UK's clear commitment to taking Russian energy off the market to reduce the Kremlin's revenue.