Panama Delists 6 Flagged Ships Over UK Russia Sanctions

By Alex Kimani of OilPrice.com

Panama said it will cancel the registration of six ships sailing under its flag after they were sanctioned by the UK last week.

The delisting comes after Panama’s maritime authority in October pledged to penalize vessels sanctioned by the U.S., European Union, UK and United Nations.

“Safeguarding the prestige of our flag is a top priority for this administration. The state has a fundamental responsibility to protect the integrity of the Panamanian ship registry, ensuring it remains free from international sanctions and unlinked to vessels associated with such listings,” Ramon Franco, director general of merchant marine at the Panama Maritime Authority, said in a statement.

Moscow continues to export large volumes of crude despite sanctions by the West.

Earlier in the year, Panama Canal authorities engaged in talks with U.S. LNG producers on how to meet increased demand for crossings as water levels recovered. The canal authorities worked with shippers to secure more passage for LNG customers, with plans to build water reservoirs as a solution to mitigate climate change-related shortages.

Last year, Europe accounted for 66 percent of total U.S. LNG exports, followed by Asia at 26 percent and Latin America and the Middle East with a combined eight percent.

However, Cheniere Energy is highly optimistic about Asian LNG demand, despite some countries with large gas-reliant economies currently hampered by poor credit ratings.

"They tend to rely more on state-to-state agreements. Obviously that is not something we can participate in. We see Thailand, Philippines as very attractive markets," Chief Commercial Officer Anatol Feygin told Reuters. Feygin expects China to import 100 million metric tons per year in the future, up from about 64 million metric tons in 2022.

However, Europe’s likely to continue being the leading consumer of U.S. LNG for years to come, with the continent poised to cut off more Russian gas.

Earlier, Politico reported that the European Commission proposed sanctions on Russia's LNG sector as part of Brussels’ 14th sanctions package against Russia.