U.S. Sanctioned Tanker Discharges Russian Oil At China’s Shandong Port

A tanker newly added to the U.S. sanctions list has discharged Russian oil at a port operated by Shandong Port Group in eastern China.

According to shipping data from LSEG Eikon, this is the first such discharge in Shandong province since the U.S. imposed sanctions on Russian oil shipments last week.

The Panama-flagged crude oil tanker, Mermar, docked at Longkou port in Yantai city on Wednesday after floating since Saturday. The tanker carried 80,000 metric tons or about 600,000 barrels, of Russian ESPO Blend crude oil that was loaded on January 6 at Kozmino Port on Russia’s east coast.

The sanctions include a grace period for cargoes that were loaded before January 10 and unloaded before March 12.

Some companies have halted their shipments keeping the same in mind. The Mermar is among the 183 ships designated by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) after the sanctions were announced last Friday.

These sanctions aim to disrupt Russia’s oil supply to China and India while reducing the availability of ships for transporting oil.

The U.S. government has specifically targeted the Mermar because it made a port call at a Russian port where oil has consistently traded above the $60 price cap set by the West to cut Russia’s oil revenues.

Along with the tanker, the Mermar’s registered owner, Merluza Group, has also been sanctioned by the U.S. government. The vessel is managed by Ocean Anemone Shipmanagement, which is based in Hong Kong, and it is insured by Balance Insurance, a company based in Russia.

Before the sanctions were announced, Mermar had insurance coverage from New Zealand’s Maritime Mutual until May 2025, but it switched to Balance Insurance in November 2024, per the shipping data.

Shandong Port Group, which operates the port where the tanker discharged, was not available for comments after business hours.

The group had previously banned U.S.-sanctioned tankers from entering its ports in Shandong province, a key region for China’s independent refineries that have been major importers of Russian crude oil.

Reference: Reuters

Source: Maritime Shipping News