The shipment embarked on November 7 from the Hammerfest LNG plant in Norway - which is owned by the Russian giant - and made its way through the Arctic Circle ice to Japan, landing yesterday.

The LNG carrier was accompanied by icebreakers for part of the journey, with ice up to 30cm thick in waters between the Vilkitski and Bering straits.

While a similar journey was made in October, this time the LNG carrier was weighted, making it the first such trip made.

Gazprom was pleased with the result, saying it was now a real option for LNG export into Asia given Russian liquefaction projects in the Arctic.

The route reduces the northern Europe to Asia trip time by about 40%.