Get Premium Data for Cyber Monday: Up to 55% Off InvestingProCLAIM SALE

Tanker Liteyny Prospect, hit by sanctions, docks in China to offload Russian oil

Published 07/03/2024, 08:20
Updated 08/03/2024, 01:55
© Reuters.
CL
-

By Chen Aizhu and Florence Tan

SINGAPORE/MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Russian tanker Liteyny Prospect, hit by sanctions, has docked at the Chinese port of Huanghua to discharge its 700,000-barrel Russian Sokol crude cargo, two sources familiar with the matter said, clearing part of a backlog of cargoes disrupted by sanctions on Moscow's oil trade.

The tanker is one of six ships carrying Sokol crude, which India has not been able to import due to payment issues. The six ships had been sailing to China but five of them are floating at sea early this week, shipping data showed, following fresh U.S. sanctions on the Russian oil fleet.

The Liberian-flagged Liteyny Prospect docked on Wednesday at a berth at Huanghua, near Cangzhou city in Hebei province, that handles mostly coal and iron ore shipments, shipping data from analytics firms LSEG, Kpler and Vortexa showed.

Cangzhou port officials and the manager of the tanker, Sovcomflot (SCF), did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

It is unclear what is holding back the remaining five ships from discharging their cargoes.

Although there is no clear regulation or guidance for ports to decide whether to allow vessels under sanctions to dock, port authorities are wary of secondary sanctions, trade sources said.

The ports are likely to have told buyers that there is no issue with customs clearance but would not allow oil to be stored for extended periods of time, the sources added.

The backlog of Sokol tankers is the biggest disruption to Russia's oil trade since the West imposed sanctions on Moscow over its military actions in Ukraine. Sokol oil is a low-sulphur grade exported from De Kastri terminal of Russia's Sakhalin island by Sakhalin-1 LLC, controlled by oil giant Rosneft.

Rosneft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC)late last month imposed sanctions on SCF and designated 14 crude vessels, including Liteyny Prospect, as property in which SCF has an interest.

OFAC issued general licences allowing the offloading of crude oil, or other cargoes, from the 14 vessels for 45 days, and allowing transactions with all other Sovcomflot tankers.

The sanctions are aimed at reducing Russia's revenues from oil sales it can use to support its war in Ukraine.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.