Sanctioned Russian tankers “huddle” in Baltic Sea

Three crude oil tankers recently sanctioned by the UK are gathering in the Baltic Sea, where two of them are taking part in loading programs for the Russian ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga, Bloomberg reported.

The ships, along with a chemical/oil product tanker, were blacklisted by the U.K. on June 13, when it announced wide-ranging sanctions against Russia, including London’s first attempt to crack down on a “dark fleet” of hundreds of Russian oil tankers and a key Moscow-based insurance company, Bloomberg reported.

The Robon, known to those who track the “dark fleet” used to transport Russian oil, was formerly known as the Turba. It was featured in a Bloomberg documentary last year, filmed loading Russian oil on a ship-to-ship basis.

The ship has been moored outside Ust-Luga since it was named. It, along with three other Russian tankers moored there, were sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in December and February. None of the ships have loaded any cargo since being blacklisted for carrying oil in violation of price limits imposed by Western nations on Russian exports.

The aframax tanker Robon is expected to load at Ust-Luga on the day it is sanctioned by the UK, June 13, 2024. Photo: TradeWinds

The Ocean AMZ is anchored about 80 miles (129 kilometers) west, near the Estonian port of Tallinn, where it docked on June 19. The area is a popular spot for tankers waiting to load at Baltic ports, with eight other vessels there as of June 21. The Ocean AMZ was scheduled to load a cargo of Urals crude at Ust-Luga, according to shipping information seen by Bloomberg, but ship-tracking data shows that it was replaced by the tanker Asher.

A third crude tanker, NS Laguna, is passing the Baltic Sea island of Gotland. It is also headed to Ust-Luga, where it docked on June 22. Shipping information lists it as a possible ship to load Urals crude from the port of Primorsk later this month.

Additionally, the chemical/oil product tanker Canis Power has been at the shipyard in Yalova, near Istanbul in Türkiye, since early June.

Tankers involved in the Russian oil trade that were previously sanctioned by the US have struggled to operate normally. But three of them have loaded cargoes in recent weeks, months after being blacklisted by the US, in Moscow’s first test of the effectiveness of measures against the tankers it relies on to get its oil to market.

Minh Duc (According to Bloomberg)

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/tau-cho-dau-nga-bi-trung-phat-co-cum-o-bien-baltic-a669773.html