Russia’s crude oil delivery problems to India aren’t over yet
Russia’s Sokol crude — meant for delivery to India — are sitting on tankers idling off the coasts of Malaysia and South Korea. They show little sign of moving.
Twelve tankers are anchored, holding the key Russian crude grade. Most haven’t moved far for more than a month, vessel tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The build-up started when ships carrying the crude to ports around the Indian coast came to a halt late last year and then turned back towards the South China Sea as December drew to a close. Since then, the stranded shipments have been added to at a rate of about two new cargoes a week.
It looked like the situation was starting to ease earlier this month, with three cargoes heading back to the south Asian nation. While a fourth is now signaling its destination as the Indian east coast port of Visakhapatnam, most remain stuck.
And more continue to arrive, with an average of one 700,000 barrels cargo loaded onto specialized shuttle tankers at the De Kastri export terminal every three to four days.
Those shuttle ships are piling up off the South Korean port of Yeosu, where they normally offload their cargoes onto other vessels for onward shipment to India. The hold-up could soon start to curb the pace of exports, if the shuttle tankers aren’t freed up soon to take on fresh cargoes.
The fleet of seven ships, the most recent of which were delivered to Russia’s Sovcomflot PJSC from South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries shortly after Moscow’s troops invaded Ukraine almost two years ago, were
