The Funen shipyard Fayard refuses to service ships from the Russian shadow fleet, which supports the Russian war economy. This is stated in a press release on Tuesday, after the family-owned Danish shipyard responded to the Danish Ministry of Defence's Materiel and Procurement Agency (FMI), which has initiated an investigation.
- We fully support the investigation from FMI, as it is important to ensure that no shipyards participate in activities with the Russian shadow fleet, says Deputy Director Kristian Andersen.
Every day, end-of-life tankers sail through Danish waters carrying Russian gas worth hundreds of millions of DKK. Some ships are sanctioned, but the majority are not, and therefore the Danish companies are not breaking the law by servicing them, even though the gas exports help finance Russia's war against Ukraine.
A security aspect is that ships from the navy are also serviced at the shipyard in the port of Odense. This can happen side by side with ships that have sailed with and sold Russian and non-sanctioned gas to European countries.
Therefore, FMI has initiated an investigation of the shipyards with which the Danish Armed Forces have an agreement for servicing the navy's ships, including Fayard.
Fayard: We reject the Russian shadow fleet
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (S) has previously called the servicing of the gas ships completely incomprehensible. She emphasized that even if there were to be gray areas, "we also have an obligation as a Danish company not to support the Russians in any way." The shipyard emphasizes that it rejects ships from the Russian shadow fleet.
- At Fayard, we reject ships from the Russian shadow fleet. We conduct ongoing risk assessments and reject requests where we assess that there is a risk that the ships will violate or circumvent sanctions, says Kristian Andersen.
But for Mette Frederiksen it is also a moral issue. The ships, which sail with natural gas from the Yamal LNG plant in Russia, are not sanctioned.
Fayard emphasizes that Russian gas continues to play a central role in the EU in securing energy supplies and keeping prices down. And that the ships are empty when they are serviced.
- Fayard naturally supports the EU's priorities and supports the EU's plan for phasing out Russian gas, says Kristian Andersen.
The EU is still dependent on Russian gas, and in 2024 20 percent of total gas imports to the EU came from Russia. The EU wants to become independent in 2027.
Mayor has asked for help
The shadow fleet is described by the UN's maritime organization IMO as under-insured ships that circumvent sanctions and controls. This is done by sailing under foreign flags and with opaque ownership.
Mayor of Odense Peter Rahbæk Juel (S) has previously approached the government to get it to fight to get the Yamal LNG fleet on the list of sanctioned ships. Among other things, the government wants to resolve the matter under EU auspices.
Ritzau has approached Fayard for an interview and answers to the moral aspect of the matter.
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