Chinaʼs major oil port imposes new restrictions on shadow fleet

Four operators of Chinaʼs Huangdao port, part of the larger Qingdao port in Shandong province, have signed a notice banning the berthing of tankers 31 years old or older, as well as vessels that have changed their International Maritime Organization identification details or have invalid certificates. The measures will take effect from November 1.

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Other ships entering the port in Shandong province will also be assessed on their risk profile, based on factors such as age and pollution liability insurance. Tankers with low scores may also be banned from docking.

The restrictions come after the United States imposed sanctions in August on an oil operator based in Qingdaoʼs Dongjiakou port, saying it received Iranian crude oil from a vessel already under Washingtonʼs sanctions. This has raised concerns that tougher sanctions could further disrupt Chinaʼs crude imports.

The new measures are expected to have a limited impact on Chinaʼs overall imports of such sensitive crude oil.

“Qingdao Port is already losing market share of crude oil imports from Shandong, declining from over 40% in 2020 to around 20% from 2024, as neighboring ports have expanded berths for very large crude oil tankers in recent years. Its role in handling high-risk tankers is also relatively small compared to other Shandong ports,” said Emma Li, senior market analyst at Vortexa.

Oil loaded at Iranian ports is typically moved from the Persian Gulf to waters off the coast of Malaysia or another transshipment point, where it is transferred from one tanker to another at sea. Vessels already under US sanctions are often used in the stretch between the Persian Gulf and Malaysia before being delivered to a so-called shadow fleet for the final leg of the voyage.

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