A tanker carrying Russian oil for the oil refining company Indian Oil Corporation was denied entry to an Indian port due to a lack of necessary documents.
This is reported by Bloomberg, citing sources.
The Honduran-flagged tanker Andaman Skies, built in 2004, loaded 767 000 barrels of oil in Murmansk on February 24 and was scheduled to unload in Vadinar on March 30.
Indian regulations require tankers over 20 years old to have a seaworthiness certificate issued by a member of the International Association of Classification Societies or an organization authorized by the local regulator. However, the vessel was certified by a local consultancy agency, Dakar Class, which is not recognized by Indian authorities.
The ship is currently in the Arabian Sea between Oman and India, still fully loaded.
According to sources, the ship was allowed to enter the Indian port last year because it had not yet completed 20 years of service at that time.
- India has become the largest buyer of Russian marine oil, which is being sold at a discount after Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
- On January 10, the United States imposed a massive package of sanctions against Russian oil companies. The restrictions affected 184 Russian tankers, including those from the Kremlin’s shadow fleet. As a result, China and India stopped trading in Russian oil, and by late February, Indian imports of Russian oil had fallen to their lowest level in two years.
- Russian oil imports resumed in March, returning to near-normal levels after a three-month decline. Cargoes are now being delivered by vessels not subject to sanctions, with some supplies being redirected from Turkey.
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