TOKYO (Reuters) – The Japanese government has requested insures to take on additional risks to continue providing marine war insurance for liquefied natural gas (LNG) shippers in Russian waters, a senior official at the industry ministry said.

The Financial Services Agency and Agency for Natural Resources and Energy made the request in a letter to the country’s general insurance association. Tokyo wants to ensure Japan will continue to import LNG from the Sakhalin-2 project in Russia, the official told Reuters.

Three Japanese insurance companies that are set to halt marine coverage of risks related to the war in Ukraine starting next month are in talks with reinsurers to resume those operations, they said on Monday.

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)