While most shipowners have decided to give Russia a wide berth in the wake of sanctions and the dangerous conditions involved following the invasion of Ukraine, some owners are making massive gains from trips out of the world’s largest country, the CFTS portal reports, citing the Splash publication.
“Data from Israeli maritime artificial intelligence platform Windward indicates that most crude oil tankers calling port in Russia since 28 February had registered owners, or registered beneficial owners, that are Greece-affiliated. In addition, the most common registered flag of tankers visiting Russian ports last week was Liberia, with 11 unique tankers,” the publication wrote.
According to the Sea/ shipping platform, a total of 213 ships, including 84 bulk carriers, 127 tankers, and 2 LNG ships, should arrive in Russian ports in the next two to three weeks.
Grain exports from Russia have not stopped, as data from Sea/ makes clear, with both Egypt and Turkey continuing to import vast quantities since the start of the invasion.
Coal exports as well continue to flow out of Russia, with China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan all showing strong Russian import volumes.
In terms of crude exports, analysts at broker Poten & Partners note that exports to Asia have picked up in the period since the invasion. The export volumes loaded in Russia destined for Asia averaged 1.4 million barrels per day in the 10 days prior to February 24. Since then, volumes have increased to an average of 1.75 million barrels per day, with India and South Korea noticeably to the fore.
As reported earlier, seaborne trade with Russia has dropped by 58% since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of international sanctions. Last week, data from Windward showed a decrease in the number of crude oil tankers visiting Russian ports. At the same time, about 46 million barrels of Russian oil was still on its way to a destination out of Russia, according to Windward.
