Sanctioned tanker Liteyny Prospect docks in China to offload Russian oil

OFAC issued general licences allowing the offloading of crude oil, or other cargoes, from the 14 vessels for 45 days, and allowing transactions with all other Sovcomflot tankers. The sanctions are aimed at reducing Russia's revenues from oil sales it can use to support its war in Ukraine.

The sanctioned Russian oil tanker Liteyny Prospect has docked at the Chinese port of Huanghua, near the city of Cangzhou in Hebei province, to discharge its 700,000-barrel cargo of Russian Sokol crude, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The Liberian-flagged Liteyny Prospect docked on Wednesday at a berth at Huanghua, a northern port that handles mostly coal and iron ore shipments, shipping data from analytics firms LSEG, Kpler and Vortexa showed. Cangzhou port officials could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday. The manager of the tanker, Sovcomflot (SCF), could not immediately be reached for comment.

The tanker is one of six China-bound ships carrying Sokol grade crude, which India has not been able to import due to payment issues. The backlog of Sokol tankers is the biggest disruption to Russia's oil trade since the West imposed sanctions on Moscow over its military actions in Ukraine. The other five tankers have been anchored off the Chinese coast since Monday, shipping data showed.

The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC)late last month sanctioned SCF and designated 14 crude vessels, including Liteyny Prospect, as property in which SCF has an interest. OFAC issued general licences allowing the offloading of crude oil, or other cargoes, from the 14 vessels for 45 days, and allowing transactions with all other Sovcomflot tankers.

The sanctions are aimed at reducing Russia's revenues from oil sales it can use to support its war in Ukraine.