Oil Tanker News

Ukrainian naval drones hit two sanctioned tankers in the Black Sea as they headed to a Russian port to load up with oil destined for foreign markets, an official said on Saturday, as Kyiv tries to pile pressure on Russia's vast oil industry.The two oil tankers, identified as the Kairos and Virat, were empty and sailing to Novorossiysk, a major Russian Black Sea oil terminal, the official at the Security Service of Ukraine told Reuters.Naval drones could be seen speeding towards hulking tankers followed by powerful explosions that caused fires on the vessels…

Senegalese authorities are racing to prevent a potential oil spill after water entered the engine room of the Panamanian-flagged oil tanker Mersin near Dakar's coast, the port authority said on Sunday.The vessel is owned by Turkey's Mersin Shipping Inc and managed by Besiktas Shipping, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group.The incident, which led to the vessel issuing a distress signal, occurred overnight from November 27 to 28, prompting the deployment of tugboats and specialized teams from Senegal's navy and maritime authority…

The crew of an oil products tanker are safe and the vessel is anchored off Iran's Bandar Abbas port, its manager said on Monday, after Tehran said it seized the ship in open Gulf waters last week.Iran confirmed on Saturday that its Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) had seized the Talara, a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, over alleged cargo violations, Iranian state media reported.It was the first seizure of a tanker by Tehran since Israeli-U.S. strikes on Iran in June and has raised…

Iran confirmed on Saturday that its Revolutionary Guards had seized a tanker in Gulf waters carrying a cargo of petrochemicals bound for Singapore over alleged violations, Iranian state media reported.A U.S. official and maritime security sources had said on Friday that Iranian forces intercepted the oil products tanker and diverted it into Iranian territorial waters. It was the first report of Tehran seizing a tanker since Israeli-U.S. strikes on Iran in June.Iranian state-run…

Around 1.4 million barrels per day of Russian oil, or almost a third of the country's seaborne exporting potential, remain in tankers as unloading slows due to U.S. sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil, JPMorgan said on Thursday.The U.S.

Two tankers carrying around 1.5 million barrels of Russian Urals crude have dropped anchor at sea on either end of the Suez Canal, in an apparent sign of the difficulty Moscow is having selling oil after Western sanctions were tightened last month.The vessels Sikar and Monte 1 were both loaded with oil from Russia’s Baltic port of Primorsk in early October and have remained anchored near the canal for over a week, according to tracking data from LSEG and OilX.The United States and European Union have tightened sanctions against Russia’s oil sector…

Finland-based Bluetech has partnered with NYSE-listed INSW to develop Bluetech’s new ‘SeaWasp’ tanker vessel design, purpose-designed for wind but still practical for INSW MR fleet operations.With the support of wind-propulsion specialist Norsepower, Bluetech modified its BT50 design to extract maximum forward thrust from two 35-metre Rotor Sails. This resulted in a total savings of up to 876kW of propulsion power on one representative INSW MR tanker route from San Francisco to…

A Ukrainian drone attack struck one of Russia's main Black Sea oil ports on Sunday, causing a fire and damaging at least one ship, as Kyiv tries to undermine Russia's war effort by targeting its energy infrastructure.Ukraine has for several months been striking Russian oil refineries, depots and pipelines in a bid to undermine the Russian economy.Footage on Russian and Ukrainian Telegram news channels appeared to show a terminal and one tanker ablaze at night. Reuters was not…

On the afternoon of March 8, a petroleum tanker named Torm Agnes entered the Port of Ensenada on Mexico’s Pacific coast carrying almost 120,000 barrels of diesel.Such a vessel was a rare sight in that port, which mainly hosts cruise liners, luxury yachts and container ships. Ensenada lacks the infrastructure needed to unload cargos of flammable hydrocarbons safely – making what happened later that day odder still.Waves of fuel-hauling trucks rolled up to the dock to cart away much of the Torm Agnes’ load.

The French Navy said on Tuesday that authorities were investigating a possible infraction by the oil tanker Boracay, a vessel suspected of belonging to the so-called "shadow fleet" involved in the Russian oil trade.The vessel is listed under British and European Union sanctions against Russia. It was detained by Estonian authorities earlier this year for sailing without a valid country flag. Shadow fleet tankers typically have opaque ownership and insurance and are often more than 20 years old.The crude oil tanker left the Russian port of Primorsk on September 20…

Freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) soared to their highest in more than two years, according to industry sources and LSEG data, as tanker supply tightens with a rise in Middle East exports and more arbitrage supplies to Asia.The key VLCC spot rate on the Middle East to China route, known as TD3C DFRT-ME-CN, jumped to W108 on the Worldscale industry measure, the highest level since November 2022, based on data compiled by LSEG. That is equivalent to at least $6.6 million…

Sanctioned vessel Noble Walker carrying Russian oil has changed course to India's Vadinar port after the country's Adani Group banned entry of blacklisted ships at its Mundra port, ship tracking data showed on Monday.The Noble Walker, carrying about a million barrels of Russian crude for Indian refiner HPCL Mittal Energy Ltd, was until Friday headed to Mundra, according to shipping reports and data from LSEG and Kpler.The vessel has been blacklisted by the European Union and Britain for breaching sanctions in transporting Russian oil.HMEL did not respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Two tankers chartered by Chevron carrying Venezuelan crude reached U.S. waters on Thursday, marking the first U.S. imports of the South American country's oil following a new license granted by Washington, vessel tracking data showed.The U.S. Treasury Department last month issued a restricted license to Chevron allowing the U.S. company to operate in the OPEC country and export its oil after a three-month pause triggered by more strict policies towards sanctioned Venezuela.The…

Finland's national prosecutor's office said on Monday it had brought charges against the captain and first and second officers of the Eagle S oil tanker over the cutting of undersea cables in the Gulf of Finland in December.The Georgian and Indian nationals are suspected of aggravated criminal mischief and aggravated interference with communications by dragging the ship's anchor for around 90 km (56 miles) across the seabed, a prosecutors' statement said.The defendants, who are not permitted to leave Finland, have denied committing the offences and consider that Finland also lacks jurisdiction

Iraq's navy has detained a Liberian-flagged oil tanker in its territorial waters as part of a crackdown on fuel smuggling at sea, sources with the navy and oil and transport ministries said on Friday.Smuggling is common in Gulf waters, where heavily subsidised fuel from some countries is sold on the black market to buyers across the region, though it has been relatively rare until recently for Iraqi authorities to seize ships.The vessel - identified by both the authorities and shipping sources as the Liliana tanker - was carrying 93…

At least three vessels that oil major Chevron had used to transport Venezuelan crude to the U.S. were navigating toward the South American country's waters on Thursday, with exports expected to resume later this month following a new U.S. license, according to shipping data and sources.The U.S. Treasury Department late last month authorized Chevron to operate in the sanctioned OPEC nation again, export its oil and do swaps with state company PDVSA through a restricted license…

The IEA’s medium-term outlook sees global oil supply increase set to far outpace demand growth in coming years.With intensifying geopolitical strains and heightened uncertainty about global economic prospects, oil markets are undergoing structural changes as the key drivers of supply and demand growth of the past 15 years start to fade, according to the latest edition of the IEA’s medium-term outlook.According to the report, China – which has driven the growth in global oil demand for well over a decade – is set to see its consumption peak in 2027…

Iran is maintaining crude oil supply by loading tankers one at a time and moving floating oil storage much closer to China, two vessel tracking firms told Reuters, as the country seeks to keep a key source of revenue while under attack from Israel.The conflict between Iran and Israel which broke out last week poses a fresh hurdle for Iran, which uses a shadow fleet of tankers to conceal their origin and skirt U.S. sanctions reinstated in 2018 over its nuclear program.Crude exports from Iran, OPEC's third-largest producer, mainly head to China.

The Front Tyne oil tanker was sailing through the Gulf between Iran and the United Arab Emirates on Sunday when just past 9:40 a.m. shiptracking data appeared to show the massive vessel in Russia, in fields better known for barley and sugar beets.By 4:15 p.m., the ship's erratic signals indicated it was in southern Iran near the town of Bidkhun, before later placing it back and forth across the Gulf.Mass interference since the start of the conflict between Israel and Iran has affected nearly 1…

Bergen Tankers and Equinor have signed a long-term charter agreement for two oil/chemical tanker newbuilds with an electric propulsion system, which aim to set a new standard for low emissions at the Norwegian Coast.The Norway-based companies selected Berg Propulsion as the system integrator for these DNV ice-classed tankers. The newbuild 6,500 dwt stainless steel tankers will be built by Zhoushan Dashenzhou Shipbuilding in China.The vessels will include two electric drive controllable…

Finnish prosecutors are considering pressing charges against three senior officers of an oil tanker suspected of damaging undersea power and telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea in December, police and the prosecutor said on Friday.Finnish authorities suspect the Cook Islands-registered Eagle S of having broken the Estlink 2 undersea power cable connecting Finland and Estonia as well as four internet lines last December by dragging its anchor across the seabed.Finland's…

Russia has released a Greek-owned oil tanker which was detained in Russian waters on Sunday after leaving an Estonian port, and the vessel has resumed its journey towards the Dutch port of Rotterdam, Estonian public broadcaster ERR reported on Tuesday.The detention of the vessel has increased concerns over potential escalation in busy Baltic sea lanes where major oil supplies pass through, after separate action by Estonia in recent days to stop tankers as part of enforcing Western sanctions on Russia."Expect heightened maritime security risks…

Russia detained a Greek-owned oil tanker on Sunday after it left an Estonian Baltic Sea port, the Estonian Foreign Ministry said, adding it had alerted NATO allies to the incident.The Liberia-flagged ship Green Admire was leaving Sillamae port using a designated navigation channel that crosses Russian territorial waters, the ministry said in a statement."This is definitely connected to the fact that we have started to harass Russia's shadow fleet," Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told Estonian broadcaster ERR.