Russians Engage in ‘Dangerous Practice’ of Transporting Oil in European Seas – Executive Summary

Facing mounting pressure from the Greek navy, Russian oil traders have found a new location to move crude oil cargoes in the Mediterranean, highlighting the difficulties in clamping down on activity that has alarmed European regulators and governments.

Ships carrying Ural, the main type of Russian crude oil, are now transferring their cargo from smaller vessels to a larger vessel near the city of Nador, on Morocco’s far eastern coast.

Ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg shows that since last month, the Greek Navy has been conducting naval exercises at the location where these transfers took place, in an attempt to deter the activity.

The Rollin, a very large tanker (VLCC), receives oil from a smaller ship, Serendi, near the Moroccan city. This is the first time that goods have been transferred between ships in this region. Serendi is accompanied by two other ships – Ocean AMZ and Sea Fidelity – which arrived recently. Last month, the three companies loaded about 730,000 barrels of Urals crude to the Russian port of Primorsk on the Baltic Sea.

The use of VLCCs provides economies of scale for long-distance shipping. Currently, about 80% of Russian crude oil is shipped to Asia, especially to India and China. However, European countries are wary of allowing the exchange of goods near their coasts, which has led to a change in transportation zones.

Previously, Ceuta was a popular location for such transfers, but was rarely used last year due to pressure from local authorities and the European Union. Meanwhile, Greek naval exercises prevented the same activity in the Gulf of Laconia, a body of water about 170 kilometers southwest of Athens. Russian ship-to-ship transfers have grown rapidly in this area after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN agency that sets rules for maritime transport, has classified the exchange of goods on the open sea as a “dangerous practice”, highlighting the risks involved in this type of operation.