Russia is continuing to find outlets for its oil products, with Cuba increasing imports.

AIS data shows an MR tanker owned by sanctioned Russian state shipowner Sovcomflot (SCF Group) heading to the Caribbean island with 300,000 barrels of diesel.

The Liberia-flag 47,000-dwt Transsib Bridge (built 2008) loaded at Russia’s far eastern port of Nakhodka and entered Colombia’s Cartagena anchorage area on Friday.

But the ship did not discharge there, according to Refinitiv Eikon data, instead changing its destination to Cuba’s Matanzas port.

Cuba has been increasing imports from Russia, Venezuela and elsewhere following a fire at an oil storage facility in Matanzas in August.

It was not clear if the Russian tanker had transferred a portion of its cargo to another vessel at the Cartagena anchorage.

The last AIS update from the ship comes from 2 September, showing the vessel underway off the North coast of South America.

The tanker had signalled Cartagena as its intended destination after passing the Panama Canal.

Colombia’s newly elected president Gustavo Petro has resumed diplomatic ties with neighbouring Venezuela and has announced reforms in the oil industry.

The country’s energy ministry told Reuters there were no restrictions on the origin of cargoes arriving in the country. “Any restrictions would be on the quality of the fuel and authorised importer,” a spokesperson said.

Not the buyer

But state-controlled Ecopetrol, Colombia’s largest fuel importer, said it was not the buyer of the diesel and had a prohibition on oil cargoes from Russia.

Cuba’s government has not commented.

At the end of August, TradeWinds reported that a voyage by a Trafigura-controlled tanker into South America could signal a potential new market for Russian oil as the US struggles to export enough fuel to its usual markets.

The Trafigura-chartered 50,000-dwt Marlin Aventurine (built 2016) was booked to carry 262,000 barrels of diesel from Russia for Petroecuador in Ecuador in the run-up to the European Union ban on 5 December.

Norwegian shipbroker Lorentzen & Co’s chief shipping analyst Nicolai Hansteen said that normally the US would also be able to service Europe and South America with product exports.

But because of “dire” gasoil inventories falling to 24% below five-year average levels for this time of the year, those shipments have just about come to a complete stop, he added.