Tankers under US sanctions deliver Russian oil to India, — Bloomberg

Despite India’s stated position, tankers under US sanctions continue to deliver Russian oil to Indian refineries.

This is reported by Bloomberg, citing data from analytical companies Kpler and Vortexa.

Last week, about 1 million barrels of Sokol oil, produced in the Russian Far East, were delivered to an Indian refinery. Part of the volume was transported by ship-to-ship transshipment. One of the transshipments was carried out by a tanker under US sanctions.

It is also known that other vessels under US sanctions have already participated in the transportation of Sokol oil, which is due to arrive in India in June.

In particular, at the end of March, the sanctioned tanker Viktor Titov loaded 500 thousand barrels of oil at a Russian terminal, transferred it to another vessel, and the cargo later ended up on board the Cordelia Moon, which delivered the oil to a refinery in the Indian city of Jamnagar in late May. The Cordelia Moon and the previous vessel are under sanctions by the UK, but not by the US.

In another case, the tanker Captain Kostichev, also under US sanctions, loaded almost 700,000 barrels of Sokol oil from the Sakhalin-1 project in late April and transferred it to the Monte-1, which is due to arrive in India in early June.

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, India has become a major market for Russian oil. In May, its imports could reach a record 2.2 million barrels per day.

Indian authorities have previously said they would not allow tankers under US sanctions to unload. At the same time, Delhi adheres only to UN-approved sanctions, not unilateral restrictions by other countries or alliances.

USM previously reported that MOL is asking Japan for help due to EU sanctions against Russian LNG carriers.