A sanctioned oil tanker has unloaded its cargo at the Indian port of Mundra despite the port owner’s order not to allow sanctioned tankers to dock there, Reuters has reported, citing ship-tracking data from Kpler and LSEG.
The Mundra port is owned by Adani Group and, according to an earlier Reuters report, another tanker was forced to change course after the port of Mundra refused to allow it to dock. That second tanker departed for Vadinar, where Rosneft’s partially owned Nayara Energy refinery is located.
According to VesselFinder, the Spartan tanker, which was reported to have unloaded at the Mundra port, is a 15-year-old vessel currently sailing under an Omani flag. The second tanker that was turned away from the Mundra port, Noble Walker, is a 21-year-old vessel sailing under the flag of Aruba. Per VesselFinder, the Noble Walker has been sailing for Vadinar for about a week.
Both vessels have been blacklisted by the European Union and the UK because they carry Russian crude. In the case of Spartan, the cargo is 1 million barrels of Urals crude, per Kpler, to be delivered to refiner HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd.
Adani Group issued an order that bans sanctioned tankers from entry into its 14 ports across India, including major oil import hubs such as Mundra. For HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd., this is the single entry point for imported crude. Indian Oil Corp., another big buyer of Russian oil, imports its feedstock via several ports, including Mundra.
According to Reuters, the latest tanker-focused sanctions of the European Union, the UK, and the United States could disrupt Russian oil trade with India. According to other reports, however, it seems that buyers and sellers will find a way to make a trade despite the sanctions and the 25% tariffs that the U.S. imposed on India to discourage this trade.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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