Russia appears to have equipped one of its strategically important LNG carriers with heavy machine guns, marking what analysts believe is the first known case of visible armament being installed on a Russian commercial gas vessel.
Photographs taken by the Estonian Border Guard during a surveillance flight over the Gulf of Finland show two heavy machine guns mounted above the bridge of the MV Marshal Vasilevskiy (93,292 dwt), an LNG carrier owned by Russia’s state energy company Gazprom. The photographs also show sandbags, wooden pallets and fortified firing positions installed around the bridge wings, creating four protected firing points.
Estonian officials confirmed the authenticity of the images, saying they had never previously observed weapons installed on a Russian commercial vessel.
According to defence analysts cited by European media, the weapons are likely 12.7 mm Kord heavy machine guns, introduced into Russian military service during the 1990s. Analysts believe the weapons would have limited effectiveness against aerial drones but could be used against small boats or to deter boarding attempts, including possible helicopter operations.
The MV Marshal Vasilevskiy regularly transports LNG to Russia’s heavily militarised Kaliningrad region, located between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea. Originally built as a floating regasification unit, the vessel provides Russia with an alternative gas supply route to the exclave in case pipeline deliveries through Lithuania are disrupted. It has also become increasingly involved in Russia’s LNG export trade, which remains an important source of revenue despite Western sanctions.
While armed security teams are common aboard merchant ships operating in high-risk piracy regions, the visible installation of military-style weapons on a commercial LNG carrier appears to be unprecedented. Analysts say the move reflects Russia’s growing efforts to protect strategically important energy vessels as security tensions in the Baltic Sea continue to increase.
