A Sovcomflot-controlled tanker has discharged its Russian crude cargo in China in the latest sign of blacklisted shipping companies changing their strategy in the face of US sanctions.
The 105,700-dwt NS Century (built 2006) was hit with sanctions in November while delivering a cargo of Sokol crude to India and subsequently spent weeks off the coast of Sri Lanka.
It finally discharged its cargo this week at the Chinese port of Qingdao, four-and-a-half months after loading at the Yeosu lightering zone off South Korea, according to Kpler tracking data.
The NS Century is the fourth tanker sanctioned by the US to dock at a Chinese port this month to clear the backlog of Sokol crude on ships, Reuters reported.
Payment problems
“India’s crude oil imports from Russia fell for a third consecutive month, impacted by ongoing issues with payments and [the US Office of Foreign Assets Control’s] sanctions,” said Finland’s Centre for Research on Energy & Clean Air.
“While some of these sanctioned vessels started delivering the Sokol shipments stranded at sea, they were mostly diverted to China.”
The NS Century was one of three ships that regularly transferred oil from Yeosu to Indian refineries before they were all blacklisted in November.
They received the oil in ship-to-ship transfers from other Sovcomflot tankers that brought the oil from the Rosneft-controlled Sakhalin-1 project in Russia’s Far East.
China is an outspoken critic of unilateral sanctions. It speaks out against their use at the United Nations and refused to join the G7 price cap scheme designed to target Moscow’s finances.
China and India have been the two biggest buyers of Russian crude since the European Union banned seaborne imports following the invasion of Ukraine.
Tracking data showed another sanctioned vessel owned by United Arab Emirates-based company Hennesea Holdings also arriving off the coast of China for the expected discharge of its cargo of 730,000 barrels of Russian Urals.
The 114,500-dwt La Pride (built 2004) loaded at the Russian Baltic port of Ust-Luga early this year and signalled it was heading for Turkey before the sanctions were imposed on 18 January.
It rerouted to China after a disrupted journey through the Red Sea, tracking data suggests.
The La Pride was one of 18 vessels said by the US to be owned by Hennesea, which was sanctioned for breaching the G7 oil price cap.
Shipping, finance and insurance interests face breaching G7 sanctions if they are part of a shipment of Russian oil that is sold above the capped oil price.
The cap for crude was introduced in December 2022 and has remained at $60 per barrel since then despite wide price fluctuations.
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