South Korea has delivered fuel to Russia in tankers, three of which are under UK and EU sanctions. This is happening against the backdrop of Moscow's attempts to compensate for fuel shortages caused by disruptions in the work of oil refineries, reports the “Guardian“, citing an analysis of port registers and ship tracking data, reports Focus.
In July and August, more than 176,000 tonnes of fuel, mostly diesel, were loaded from several South Korean ports. The cargo was carried by seven tankers that made a total of 14 voyages to the Russian Far East.
Three of the ships are subject to sanctions. The largest of them is the tanker “Layla“, which twice transported diesel from the South Korean port of Ulsan to Vladivostok. In total, the ship transported 57 thousand tons of fuel. On its second voyage, “Layla“ indicated the Japanese port of Niigata as its destination, but subsequently changed course and headed for Russia.
The other sanctioned ship is “Astoria“, sailing under the Russian flag and also subject to Australian sanctions. On August 1, the tanker loaded nearly 11 thousand tons of fuel in Ulsan. It indicated Japan as its final destination, but then headed for Vladivostok.
The third sanctioned tanker is the “Chongchon“. It did not call at any port. In early August, the ship reloaded about 26,000 tons of fuel from the tanker “Celeste I“ near the port of Yeosu, then sailed for Vladivostok. “Chongchon“ indicated Singapore as its final destination.
According to the information, the participation of sanctioned ships in the shipment probably does not constitute a violation of South Korean law. Seoul's own sanctions against Russia are primarily aimed at the export of industrial equipment, electronics and vehicles.
It was not possible to identify the owners or sellers of the fuel, since South Korean port registers lack such data. No contact has been made with the owners and operators of the other four tankers.
According to marine analytics company Kpler, buyers of the fuel included Rosneft, the Russian state oil company that is under sanctions by the UK, US, EU and Australia, as well as Russian oil group NNK.
The owner of NNK, Eduard Khudainatov, and the company NNK-Oil are also subject to British sanctions.