Russian tanker sails 12,000 kilometres to carry out secret oil transfer to circumvent sanctions – Bloomberg

The first Russian oil tanker, sanctioned by the USA, has secretly transferred oil to another vessel off Singapore, sailing 12,000 kilometres to do so.

Source: Bloomberg

Details: The Primorye tanker was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control in October, after which it did not load oil for about six months. However, in late April, the tanker went to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk and picked up a cargo of Urals crude before embarking on a 7,500-mile (1,270-kilometre) voyage to a location about 70 miles east of Singapore.

This year, Russia has shipped about 3.4 million barrels of oil a day, worth about $37 billion, at the export point, and working around Western sanctions has been part of that process. State budget revenues from oil sales were up almost 50% in May compared to last year as oil prices rose and the country adapted to sanctions. Nevertheless, the distorted logistics involved in the Primorye tanker suggest that there are obstacles to trade.

Shortly after arriving east of Singapore, the 900-foot tanker disappeared from the automatic identification system used by commercial vessels to transmit their location and destinations for security reasons.

However, after its disappearance, satellite imagery shows that on 3 June, the vessel transferred its cargo to another ship, the Ocean Hermana. The secret transfer of cargo would theoretically help the buyer of the oil to distance itself from dealing with the sanctioned vessel and any risk of further action by the Treasury. Identification of the recipient vessel makes it difficult to conceal the origin of the cargo.

The Primorye tanker, which was carrying about 1 million barrels of oil, belongs to the Russian state-owned oil tanker company Sovcomflot PJSC.

Bloomberg identified the two vessels based on their size, deck configuration, and colour. TankerTrackers.com Inc., which is focused on interpreting satellite imagery to identify tankers in violation of sanctions, confirmed their identification.

Background: Türkiye disguises Russian oil as its own and exports it to the EU, bringing Russia billions in profits by exploiting a loophole in sanctions.

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