Busan-based ship manager IOB Co. Ltd. has started operations with four ice-class LNG carriers and intends to expand into higher-specification Arctic vessels, gCaptain reported. The newly established South Korean company says its initial fleet comprises four Arc4 ships, each with capacity of 174,000 cubic metres, for a business focused on Russia’s Northern Sea Route.
The vessels — North Moon, North Light, North Ocean and North Valley — were built by Hanwha Ocean in 2024 and 2025 for Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL). According to gCaptain, their ownership and management arrangements have shifted into a structure connecting Russian gas producer Novatek and IOB. Shipping databases record changes in ownership, while IOB lists itself as the ships’ manager.
The move follows months in which the carriers were largely idle amid sanctions-related uncertainty. The European Union sanctioned North Moon, North Light and North Ocean in May 2025 over their participation in Russian LNG trades, then delisted them two months later after MOL assured authorities they would cease carrying Russian energy. gCaptain said it remained unclear how those assurances fitted with the apparent ownership transfer to a Russian-affiliated entity. The vessels nevertheless continued to lack employment.
IOB says it intends to bring three to six Arc7 carriers under management next year, with further Arc7 newbuildings following from 2028. It has not named the prospective vessels. The plans coincide with six Arc7 carriers remaining stranded at Hanwha Ocean after sanctions disrupted contracts linked to Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 project. Three were originally ordered by MOL and three were associated with Russia’s Sovcomflot, gCaptain reported; the report did not establish that these are the ships IOB intends to manage.
The company advertises technical, marine, quality, safety and crew-management services, and claims 13 years of accumulated global LNG fleet-management experience. Its expansion also comes as Busan pursues a wider Arctic trade role. In August, PanStar’s 2,758-TEU PanStar Acro sailed from Busan towards Europe through the Northern Sea Route on South Korea’s first commercial container trial along that passage. It attracted 737 TEUs of cargo, although PanStar has said it plans further Arctic sailings.