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 string of icebreakers that sail with Russian gas from Siberia – was this week dry docked at the Fayard A/S shipyard, which is owned by the Funen billionaire Thomas Andersen.
And it is not the first time that the Fayard shipyard, which is located in the port of Odense, has serviced the gas fleet, which has become a profitable source of income for the sanctioned Russia. According to Ekstra Bladet, Georgiy Ushakov is the eighth ship from the Yamal LNG fleet that has been serviced since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The mayor of Odense, who is also deputy chairman of the board of Odense Havn, informs 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 appear for an interview, but states in a written answer:
“No, it is not something I have been made aware of until now. Therefore, I have also asked the Port of Odense to deliver an account of the matter to the Finance Committee," he writes in an email, in which he also states that he "still (has) full confidence that the Port of Odense and the port's tenants have acted within applicable legislation and sanctions.”
Following the rules
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, from the Danish side, you want to avoid these ships being able to dock in Danish ports.
“Such tightening must come from the government, and I would support it. 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 must be no doubt that I and Odense are on Ukraine's side."
Swedish port says no
However, it has been seen before that ports have tightened their policy against 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.
That is why the Swedish port decided to tell companies that sold fuel to ships with Russian oil or stored fuel 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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