NEW DELHI : At least seven tankers carrying Russian oil, destined for China, have changed course midway and are now headed to India amid New Delhi’s renewed push to secure its energy supplies amid disruption due to the Iran war, Bloomberg reported. The rerouting of these vessels, monitored by ship-tracking firm Vortexa Ltd, comes after India received a temporary waiver from the US to buy “sanctioned” Russian oil currently stranded at sea.
Among the seven, the Aqua Titan, a medium-sized crude oil tanker, is set to arrive at the New Mangalore Port on Saturday (March 21). The tanker, which was loaded at a Baltic Sea port in late January, was originally bound for the Chinese port of Rizhao. However, it did a U-turn in mid-March, days after India got the US waiver.
Another tanker, the Suezmax Zouzou N, is also heading towards Sikka port in Gujarat’s Jamnagar and is expected to arrive on March 25. It reversed its course in early March, Bloomberg reported.
The development comes as Indian refiners stepped up purchases of Russian oil after the US issued a 30-day waiver amid the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran amid the war. Iran has almost completely blocked ship movements through the Strait, through which 1/5th of the world’s oil and gas passes.
Earlier this week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India does not have a “blanket arrangement” with Iran for the transit of Indian-flagged ships.
The arrival of the seven tankers carrying Russian crude is expected to mitigate the short-term crisis of crude oil for India.
Source : IT
