Sanctioned Tankers Carrying Russian Oil Stuck Off China Coast, Bloomberg
Date: 2025-01-13 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: ECONOMY
Three tankers carrying more than 2 million barrels of Russian crude are in waters off eastern China. The ships have been "stuck" there since the U.S. imposed sanctions on them on January 10, Bloomberg reported.
The Huihai Pacific tanker was scheduled to arrive in Dongjiakou, Shandong Province, on January 15 after loading nearly 770,000 barrels of ESPO crude from the Russian Pacific port of Kozmino earlier this month. However, the tanker changed course over the weekend and is now moored at sea with its cargo.
The vessel, like many others, is subject to the most aggressive sanctions package aimed at Russian oil exports since the invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. The sanctions target several tankers and at least one trader active in ESPO crude, a grade favored by independent Chinese refiners.
The Mermar left Kozmino on Jan. 5 with more than 755,000 barrels of ESPO and was due to call at Yantai this week but is now waiting off the coast. The Olia left the Russian port on Jan. 7 with nearly 709,000 barrels of the grade and was also bound for Yantai but is now in the Yellow Sea.
Washington imposed the restrictions just days after Shandong Port Group Co., which operates several ports, urged terminals to stop accepting sanctioned tankers.
