A tanker topic to the brand new U.S. sanctions is discharging Russian oil at a port operated by Shandong Port Group in east China, delivery information on LSEG Eikon confirmed on Thursday.
The tanker is the primary since final week’s sanctions announcement to discharge in Shandong province the place a lot of China’s impartial refineries which were huge importers of Russian crude are based mostly.
It will likely be monitored intently by these within the trade anxious to know the way strictly the measures will likely be applied.
The vessel is managed by Hong Kong-based Ocean Anemone Shipmanagement and is working below insurance coverage from Steadiness Insurance coverage based mostly in Russia….
The sanctions embrace a grace interval exempting cargoes loaded earlier than Jan. 10 and unloaded earlier than March 12, merchants stated, however the trade nonetheless halted some shipments as they assessed their dangers.
Shandong Port Group was not obtainable for remark after regular workplace hours.
The Panama-flagged crude oil tanker Mermar docked on Wednesday at Longkou port within the metropolis of Yantai. It had floated since Saturday, the LSEG information confirmed.
The info additionally confirmed the Aframax-sized tanker carried 80,000 metric tons of (600,000 barrels) Russian ESPO Mix crude that was loaded on Jan. 6 from Kozmino port on Russia’s east coast.
The Mermar was amongst 183 ships designated by the Biden administration on Friday in an announcement that disrupted provide from the world’s No. 2 producer to China and India and lowered ship availability.
The U.S. Workplace of Overseas Property Management stated the Mermar had made a port name in a Russian port the place oil has constantly traded effectively above a $60 value cap imposed by the West to attempt to curb Russia’s oil revenues.
The tanker is taken into account a part of Russia’s shadow fleet that it has used till now to skirt sanctions. Its registered proprietor Merluza Group has additionally been positioned below restrictions by the brand new measures.
The vessel is managed by Hong Kong-based Ocean Anemone Shipmanagement and is working below insurance coverage from Steadiness Insurance coverage based mostly in Russia, in line with delivery information seen by Reuters. Reuters was not in a position to contact Ocean Anemone Shipmanagement. Steadiness Insurance coverage didn’t instantly reply a Reuters request for a remark.
The vessel had insurance coverage cowl from New Zealand’s Maritime Mutual till Might 2025, however modified the insurer in November 2024, in line with the information seen by Reuters.
Previous to the U.S. sanctions announcement, Shandong Port Group had banned U.S.-sanctioned tankers from calling into its ports within the japanese Chinese language province.
