A tanker carrying Russian crude oil to India has turned around and gone adrift in the Baltic Sea after the United States imposed sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
The unusual maneuver appears to reflect growing disruption in Russian oil exports following the new restrictions, which have prompted Indian refiners to suspend purchases.
According to data from Kpler and Vortexa, the Furia loaded about 730,000 barrels of crude from Rosneft at the Baltic port of Primorsk on Oct. 20 and set sail for Sikka in India’s Gujarat state, which is home to refineries operated by private-sector Reliance Industries and state-run Bharat Petroleum.
The ship was expected to arrive in mid-November.
However, while sailing between Denmark and Germany on Tuesday, the Furia reversed course, slowed down sharply and came to a halt, Bloomberg reported.
Indian refiners put their imports of Russian crude on hold following the U.S. sanctions, which require all transactions with Rosneft and Lukoil to be completed by Nov. 21.
Reliance, the country’s largest buyer of Russian oil, has said it would comply with the sanctions.
State-run refiners have also started winding down shipments, which typically transfer ownership of the cargo to the buyer upon unloading at the destination port.
Reliance has increased orders of Middle Eastern crude in recent days, while Russian suppliers will have to seek new buyers or wait for alternative payment and shipping routes to emerge.
The Furia has been blacklisted by both the European Union and Britain, according to Bloomberg.
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