Russian oil tanker reaches China via tangled route under sanctions pressure
Russian oil tanker reaches China via tangled route under sanctions pressure (photo: Getty Images)
A cargo of Russian oil from Rosneft, under US sanctions, reached China's shores after a long, complex journey. The route included a transfer near India and a short stop close to South Korea, Bloomberg reported.
According to the news agency, citing vessel-tracking data, the tanker Fortis, which was carrying about 700,000 barrels of crude oil, anchored on Tuesday near the port of Rizhao on China's eastern coast. Most of the import terminals at this port are on the US blacklist because of trade in Iranian oil.
The 11-week journey of the Rosneft cargo demonstrates the uncertainty created by US sanctions for Russian oil exports. Buyers are trying to minimize risks associated with increased oversight by Washington.
It is currently unclear whether the tanker will be unloaded in Rizhao, as the vessel's owner and manager did not respond to Bloomberg's inquiries.
The cargo's journey began on another vessel — the tanker Ailana, which received about 720,000 barrels from a Russian tanker in Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea at the end of September.
The vessel then passed through the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal, arriving in Mumbai, where it stopped for almost two weeks.
After that, Ailana transferred the oil to Fortis at sea. At first, Fortis headed to the port of Kochi in India, then changed course to Ningbo, China, and later to Yeosu, South Korea.
According to Kpler, part of the cargo was transferred there to another tanker.
Russian oil takes a long detour to China (photo: Bloomberg)
As Bloomberg notes, transporting crude oil from Russia's western ports to China usually takes about two months. Still, the Rosneft shipment spent almost an extra month to reach a possible unloading location.
The publication noted that the owners and operators of the tanker Fortis provided no comments. There are no contact details for the manager of the vessel Ailana in the database, and attempts to contact its owner were also unsuccessful.
Sanctions against Russia
As is known, in October, US President Donald Trump announced a new package of tough sanctions against the Russian energy sector. The restrictions included oil giants Lukoil and Rosneft, as well as their subsidiaries.
As a result, most Indian refineries stopped buying Russian oil. In particular, the tanker Furia, carrying Russian oil bound for India, abruptly changed course and began idling in the Baltic Sea.
As a result, a record volume of oil — nearly 1 billion barrels — has accumulated on tankers around the world, much of it coming from countries under sanctions.
