The first Russian oil tanker trying to deliver crude under US sanctions executed a covert cargo transfer to another ship, highlighting Moscow’s efforts to bypass American restrictions on its fleet. The SCF Primorye, sanctioned by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in October, did not load oil for about six months. However, in late April, the tanker visited Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, loading a cargo of Urals crude before embarking on a 7,500-mile journey to a spot approximately 70 miles east of Singapore.
Russia has shipped about 3.4 million barrels of crude daily this year, valued at roughly $37 billion at the point of export, maneuvering around Western sanctions as part of this effort. Oil proceeds to the state budget increased by nearly 50% in May compared to a year ago, as crude prices rose and the nation adapted to the measures. Nonetheless, the SCF Primorye’s convoluted logistics demonstrate the trade’s challenges. Shortly after arriving east of Singapore, the 900-foot tanker vanished from the automatic identification system (AIS), where commercial vessels broadcast their locations and destinations for safety reasons. The ship’s crew can turn off AIS.
SCF Primorye, holding about 1 million barrels of oil, is owned by Russian state oil tanker company Sovcomflot PJSC
After disappearing, satellite imagery showed the ship transferred its cargo to another vessel, the Ocean Hermana, on June 3. The secretive transfer would theoretically help the oil buyers distance themselves from dealing with a sanctioned ship and reduce the risk of further actions from the Treasury. Identifying the receiving ship makes hiding the cargo’s origin difficult. SCF Primorye, holding about 1 million barrels of oil, is owned by Russian state oil tanker company Sovcomflot PJSC, which declined to comment. Bloomberg identified the two vessels based on their dimensions, deck configuration, and colouring, with identities confirmed by TankerTrackers.com Inc., experts in interpreting satellite imagery to detect sanctions-busting tankers.
The Ocean Hermana, about 20 years old with an unknown insurer, has recently been shuttling between locations around Singapore, the Malacca Strait, and ports in China. Equasis, a database promoting safe shipping, lists its operator as Sygnius Ship Management Pvt in Kolkata. The company, via email, stated this was incorrect, claiming its role was solely as the vessel’s crewing agent and did not respond to follow-up questions. Whether the cargo eventually reaches a refinery, likely in China given the transfer location, will reveal how easily Russia might repeat the process with other sanctioned vessels. Since October, nearly all of the 40 tankers sanctioned by OFAC have failed to load cargoes, with only one removed from the list of designated vessels. Not all are owned by Sovcomflot. Bloomberg tracked the SCF Primorye’s AIS movements and used modified Copernicus Sentinel data processed with EO Browser from Sentinel Hub when it disappeared from the system.
SCF Primorye has resumed its journey, heading northeast through the South China Sea, now showing a draft indicating it is empty. The last signal from the Ocean Hermana was on June 10, near the cargo transfer site, with its draft indicating full cargo tanks. Another sanctioned vessel, the Bratsk, already follows the SCF Primorye’s route. Currently, in the Indian Ocean, it carries a cargo of Urals crude loaded at Novorossiysk on May 23, expected to arrive off Singapore on June 17. More sanctioned tankers owned by Russia’s Sovcomflot PJSC may follow. Another seven disappeared from tracking after entering the Black Sea. They likely remain there, as regulations require automated position signals while transiting the Turkish Straits, making it hard for them to have sailed into the Mediterranean undetected.