Three significant Greek shipping companies have ceased transporting Russian oil in recent weeks in order to evade the U.S. penalties now placed on certain shipping companies who do so, according to four merchants who spoke to Reuters and shipping statistics.

Although traders claimed Moscow still had enough shipping companies for the time being, the news is a blow to Russia as it reduces the number of shipping companies willing to deliver Russian oil to consumers in Asia, Turkey, the Middle East, Africa, and South America.

According to the four dealers, Greek shippers Minerva Marine, Thenamaris, and TMS Tankers have ceased shipping Russian oil in recent weeks.

According to Thenamaris, it doesn’t comment on business-related issues. Requests for comments from TMS Tankers and Minerva Marine went unanswered.

Reuters was able to obtain data from shipping brokers and merchants that all three companies were involved in the active transportation of Russian oil and fuels until September or October, at which point they began to reduce their activities.

In November and beyond, all three companies denied requests for vessels to load Russian crude, according to dealers who had previously worked with the three companies.

The Greek shippers’ withdrawal from the trade coincided with the US imposing stricter sanctions on the supplies of Russian oil.

The first penalties were imposed by Washington in October on owners of tankers in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates that were transporting Russian oil above the $60 per barrel price threshold set by the G7. It levied penalties on three additional ships last week.

A price ceiling on Russian oil was imposed by the G7 nations in late 2022, although it had not yet been put into effect. If Russian oil is sold for less than $60 per barrel, the price cap permits Western companies to ship and insure the oil. The cap’s purpose is to restrict Russian export earnings.

Due to production cuts by the OPEC+ group of oil producing nations, Russia’s primary export grade, Urals, has been trading above the $60 per barrel cap since mid-July. This has led many market observers to claim that the price cap is ineffective.

Based on data from the U.S. Treasury, the crude oil grade of Russia’s Pacific ESPO Blend has also traded above the cap.

The three Greek enterprises had been involved in the shipment of Russian oil for many years, and they carried on even after the majority of other Western corporations stopped operating the routes due to growing sanctions concerns and the installation of a price restriction.

The routes have generated good money. Shippers who took the chance and stuck with the Russian oil trade have seen record profits over the last year.

Due to shippers’ high risk-taking charges, freight prices for Russian oil transportation increased to as much as $15 million per tanker voyage from Baltic ports to India last winter. Compared to the cost of non-approved crude shipments, it was many times more.

Roughly 10 million tonnes of oil each month, or 2.4 million barrels per day, are exported from Russia’s European ports of Primorsk, Ust-Luga, and Novorossiisk by the three Greek businesses, who operate more than 100 oil tankers.

They also manage a fleet of smaller fuel-transporting tankers.

“The dark fleet might not be enough to transport all of Russian oil,” one of the traders involved in Russian oil shipping said, referring to the emergence of the so-called “dark fleet” of shippers that move oil from sanctions-hit Russia and Iran and are not covered by Western insurance.

He pointed to the primary cause as the fact that, before to sanctions, Russian oil was marketed in Europe and now takes eight to ten weeks to reach consumers in Asia. This implies that the trade needs more tankers.

But for the time being, dealers added, Russia seemed to be managing as other shipping companies stepped in.

According to traders and shipping data, Russia is currently depending on its shipping company, Sovcomflot, as well as other obscure shipping companies registered in the UAE, India, Hong Kong, Seychelles, Ghana, and other places.

The ships fly the flags of several states, including the Cook Islands and Liberia.

(Adapted from Reuters.com)

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