Ship With Russia Oil Makes Rare Move Offshore India

A tanker carrying crude from recently-sanctioned Rosneft PJSC has made a rare cargo transfer off Mumbai, as the Trump administration ramps up its scrutiny of India’s oil trade with Russia.

But the unusual move has puzzled traders. The cargo was transferred from one blacklisted tanker to another sanctioned ship, meaning there’s been no attempt to hide its origin — typical of such a move — and the crude is still heading for an Indian port: Kochi in the south, rather than Mumbai on the west coast.

India’s purchases of Russian oil have drawn the ire of President Donald Trump, and the US penalties on Rosneft along with Lukoil PJSC are expected to severely impact the trade. The market is keenly watching for disruptions to established flows before a grace period related to the sanctions ends later this month.

“What we’re seeing now is this uncertainty in the market about what the sanctions risks are,” said Rachel Ziemba, an analyst at the Center for a New American Security in Washington. “The net result is more ship-to-ship transfers, more subterfuge, longer routes, more complicated transactions.”

The Fortis took around 720,000 barrels of Russian Urals from Ailana on Tuesday near Mumbai, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg, Kpler and Vortexa. The cargo was collected from the Baltic port of Ust-Luga before the US sanctioned Rosneft, and Ailana had idled in the area for nearly two weeks with no clear reason. 

Ailana is on its way back to Russia, while Fortis is expected to arrive at Kochi early next week with the cargo, ship-tracking data shows. Both vessels have been sanctioned by the European Union and the UK.

Fortis’ owner and manager — Vietnam-based Pacific Logistic & Maritime and North Star Ship Management — didn’t respond to emailed requests for comment. There are no contact details on maritime database Equasis for the manager of Ailana, Azerbaijan-based Nautilus Fleet Management LLC. Calls to its owner, Alvido Chartering Ltd., didn’t go through.

Diverted Cargo

Days prior to the sanctions on the Russian oil giants, a shipment from Russia to India was diverted to China, highlighting the existing strain on the trade. Trump and some of his officials have repeatedly called out the South Asian nation for its purchases, but spared Beijing similar scrutiny for its transactions.

The US sanctioned Rosneft and Lukoil as part of a fresh bid to end the war in Ukraine — a radical change in Western policy around Russian oil. Previous efforts had sought to cap prices to limit revenue for the Kremlin, without impacting the flow of barrels.

A tanker called Missoni idled off Mumbai for a few days before turning sharply and heading toward China. The vessel is carrying about 720,000 barrels of Urals from Lukoil, data and port agents’ report show.

The Aframax is sanctioned by the EU and the UK, and it’s not known to be flagged to any country. Missoni Co. Ltd. and Polaris Shipmanagement Ltd., the China-based owner and manager of Missoni, respectively, share the same phone number. A person who picked up a call from Bloomberg News seeking comment said he did not know anything about the vessel.

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