Almost Half of Russian Sanctioned Tankers Are Idled

Around half of the 50 tankers that the US Treasury has been sanctioning since 10 October have failed to load cargoes, Bloomberg ship tracking data showed.

• The latest targeted tanker — the Sovcomflot carrier NS Leader — performed an immediate U-turn off the coast of Portugal on Thursday when its owner was named by the US. It was sailing toward a Russian port in the Baltic Sea at the time.
• Of the 50 tankers sanctioned since early October, 18 have collected cargoes. Of those, nine were shuttle ships and nine appeared to collect consignments as normal since they were added to the list. One is still carrying a cargo it took on board before it was sanctioned.
• That leaves 31, of which seven had been idled even before sanctions and three may well load soon. That leaves 21 that haven’t loaded cargo since.
• Tankers involved in Russian trading have been affected in recent months with 14 tankers carrying Russian Sokol grade crude to India that have either been dithering or anchored in waters east of Singapore.