finance
Armed Russian LNG Tanker Spotted in Baltic Sea
Imagery released by the Estonian Border Guard shows heavy machine guns mounted on the Marshal Vasilevskiy, Russia’s only floating storage and regasification vessel. The 945-foot tanker supplies natural gas to Kaliningrad and has been subject to sanctions.
TH
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Imagery released by the Estonian Border Guard shows heavy machine guns mounted on the Marshal Vasilevskiy, Russia’s only floating storage and regasification vessel. The 945-foot tanker supplies natural gas to Kaliningrad and has been subject to sanctions.
The vessel was photographed last month while sailing past Estonia’s western islands toward the Russian port of Bolshoi Bor in the Gulf of Finland. Sandbagged positions on either side of the deck above the bridge held 12.7mm Kord heavy machine guns.
The Marshal Vasilevskiy is owned by Gazprom and has completed four voyages to Kaliningrad since last August. It is not part of Russia’s shadow fleet but remains under sanctions. Holger Roonemaa of Delfi Estonia obtained the images through an Estonian Border Guard surveillance aircraft.
The mounting of weapons follows a June 3 Ukrainian aerial drone attack on the Russian Navy base at Kronstadt near St. Petersburg. Ukrainian forces have previously struck Russian naval assets in the Black Sea and Mediterranean. The Kord fires 600-650 rounds per minute with an effective range of about 2,000 yards.
The report notes that crew members listed on the vessel include individuals with backgrounds in the Russian military, National Guard, or Federal Security Service.
