Odense Mayor Peter Rahbæk Juel (S) is now reacting to Danwatch and Ekstra Bladet's revelation that a Russian natural gas ship has been serviced at a shipyard in the Port of Odense this week.
The ship, "Georgiy Ushakov", which is part of the Yamal LNG fleet - a series of icebreakers that sail with Russian gas from Siberia - was dry docked this week at the shipyard Fayard A/S, which is owned by the Funen billionaire Thomas Andersen.
And it is not the first time that the Fayard shipyard, located in the port of Odense, has serviced the gas fleet, which has become a lucrative source of income for sanctions-hit Russia. According to Ekstra Bladet, Georgiy Ushakov is the eighth ship from the Yamal LNG fleet to have been serviced since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The mayor of Odense, who is also vice-chairman of the board of directors of Odense Port, tells Danwatch and Ekstra Bladet that he has only just become aware that several ships from the Russian gas fleet are being serviced in the city's port.
He does not want to be interviewed, but states in a written response:
“No, it is not something that I have been made aware of before now. That is why I have also asked the Port of Odense to provide a statement of the matter to the Economic Committee,” he writes in an email, where he also states that he “continues to have full confidence that the Port of Odense and the port’s tenants have acted within applicable legislation and sanctions.”
Following the rules
The Georgiy Ushakov and the other ships in the Yamal LNG fleet were built with the specific purpose of sailing with Russian natural gas from the Arctic part of Russia, but the ships are often operated by companies in other countries.
Peter Rahbæk Juel believes that it will require a tightening of the current rules if the Danish side wants to prevent these ships from docking in Danish ports.
“Such a tightening must come from the government, and I would support. But until then, the starting point must be that the Port of Odense, like all other companies, must comply with applicable legislation and sanctions. And they do,” he says and elaborates:
“There should be no doubt that I and Odense stand on Ukraine’s side.”
Swedish port says no
However, it has been seen before that ports have tightened their policy towards Russia without waiting for new legislation. The Port of Gothenburg, the largest in the Nordic region, decided in August 2023 that it did not want to be associated with Russian oil trade – even in cases where it is legal.
Therefore, the Swedish port decided to tell companies that sold fuel to ships carrying Russian oil or stored fuel that was to be sold that they were no longer welcome in the port.
Danwatch and Ekstra Bladet have also previously asked Thomas Andersen why he wants to help support the Russian trade in natural gas. He did not want to answer that, but emphasized that Fayard complies with the law.
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