Sanctions, bad weather drive more ship-to-ship transfers of Russian oil products, data shows

MOSCOW: Russia has increased its oil product exports via ship-to-ship transfers after Western sanctions and harsh winter weather triggered a shortage of suitable tankers to serve Russian ports, traders said and LSEG data showed.
STS transfers allow in-demand ice-class tankers to focus on transporting products from Russian ports to vessels in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, which then carry cargoes on to Asian ports, rather than making the longer journey themselves.
That helps secure cargoes to a variety of destinations as the war in Iran continues to ⁠disrupt global energy ⁠supplies, driving up oil prices.
Asian countries have become the main destination for Russia’s refined product exports since the European Union’s full embargo on Russian oil products in 2023. Severe frosts in early 2026 tightened ice navigation rules in the Baltic.
From mid-February, non-ice-class tankers ⁠were barred from Russia’s Baltic ports, while ice-strengthened Ice1–Ice2 vessels were required to take icebreakers.
A scramble to shorten routes to Asia and secure scarce tankers amid an acute shortage of ice-class vessels, compounded by tightening Western sanctions, has forced traders to push more cargoes through STS transfers, market sources said.
LSEG data showed that two tankers loaded with about 240,000 tons of naphtha at the Baltic port of Ust-Luga in January carried ⁠out STS ⁠operations at the Port Said anchorage and off Togo before delivering the feedstock to Singapore.
In February, traders also began using STS transfers near Al Hoceima in northern Morocco. Ship-to-ship operations involving naphtha and fuel oil loaded at Russian ports exceeded 200,000 tons at Al Hoceima and Port Said that month, according to shipping data.
Another two tankers loaded in March at Ust-Luga port with around 95,000 tons of naphtha are now heading toward STS operations near the Italian port of Augusta, LSEG data showed.