Sanctioned tankers with Russian oil idle in Chinese waters
Ship-tracking data reveals that three tankers carrying over 2 million barrels of Russian oil are anchored off eastern China following U.S. sanctions imposed last Friday
According to Bloomberg, one of the vessels, the Huihai Pacific, was due to dock at Dongjiakou, Shandong province, on January 15, carrying approximately 770,000 barrels of ESPO crude from Russia's Kozmino port. However, it changed course over the weekend and is now stationary offshore, still loaded with oil, according to ship-tracking data from Kpler, a market intelligence firm.
The ship, along with several others, was caught up in the toughest sanctions targeting Russian oil exports since the start of the Ukraine invasion in early 2022. The measures affected multiple tankers and at least one trader involved in the trade of ESPO crude, a type of oil popular with China’s independent refiners, known as teapots.
The Mermar, loaded with about 755,000 barrels of ESPO crude from Kozmino, departed on January 5 and was expected to dock at Yantai port this week but remains stationary offshore, according to Kpler data.
Similarly, the Olia, which set sail on January 7 with roughly 709,000 barrels, is now anchored in the Yellow Sea. This follows Shandong Port Group's directive to its terminals to cease handling cargo from sanctioned oil tankers.
Shandong Port Group has banned U.S.-sanctioned tankers from docking at its ports in the eastern Chinese province, which hosts several independent refiners and is the largest importer of oil from countries under U.S. sanctions, according to three traders.
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