Sanctioned Russian Tanker Arrives In Chinese Port, Unloads 700,000-Barrel Crude Cargo

 Two industry sources who are aware of the matter commented that it has now docked at the port of Huanghua to discharge 700,000 barrels of Russia’s Sokol crude cargo, clearing part of a cargo backlog disrupted by sanctions on Moscow’s oil trade

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The tanker is one of six vessels transporting Sokol crude, which India could not import owing to payment-related issues. The six vessels sailed to China, but five were seen floating at sea early in the week, per shipping data, following fresh US sanctions on Russia’s oil fleet.

The Liberian-flagged Liteyny Prospect was docked on Wednesday at a berth based in Huanghua, close to Cangzhou city in Hebei province. The berth mostly handles coal and iron ore shipments, according to shipping data from analytics companies LSEG, Vortexa, and Kpler. It is not clear what has been holding the remaining five vessels back from discharging cargoes.

Although there are no rules or guidance for ports to decide whether to let vessels facing sanctions dock, port authorities are concerned about secondary sanctions, said trade sources. The ports are likely to have informed the buyers that customs clearance is not a problem but that oil cannot be stored for a lengthy period, according to the sources.

The backlog of Sokol tankers is the most significant disruption to Russian oil trade since the West began imposing sanctions on Moscow for its military activities in Ukraine. Sakhalin-1 LLC, operated by Rosneft, exports low-sulfur quality Sokol oil from Sakhalin island’s De Kastri terminal.

Late last month, the United States Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control imposed sanctions on SCF and classified 14 oil tankers, including the Liteyny Prospect, in which SCF is interested. OFAC granted general permits for the 14 vessels to unload crude oil or other goods for 45 days and for dealings with various other Sovcomflot tankers