OREANDA-NEWS  Three major Greek shipping companies — Minerva Marine, Thenamaris and TMS Tankers — have been refusing to transport Russian oil for the past few weeks. Thus, carriers hope to avoid US sanctions, writes Reuters with reference to traders and data on fuel shipments.

The companies actively cooperated with Russia, risking sanctions, but at the same time earning a record. Greek tankers transported Russian oil and petroleum products until September-October, but in November the carriers rejected all requests for supplies in this and the following months.

For Russia, the decrease in the number of carriers ready to transport sub-sanctioned fuel to friendly countries is a blow, the agency writes. In particular, the fleet of Greek companies that refused to cooperate with Moscow has more than 100 tankers — the vessels are capable of transporting 2.4 million barrels per day. Moreover, the so-called shadow fleet will not help solve the problem with supplies, one of the traders concluded.

Tankers involved in the transportation of Russian oil in violation of the price ceiling have already fallen under the new US sanctions. On November 16, sanctions were imposed against the vessels Kazan, Ligovsky Prospect and NS Century, sailing under the flag of Liberia and related trading companies. They were engaged in the delivery of oil to India, and one of the tankers is due to arrive in the Indian Vadinar this week.

Against this background, in the second half of November, oil supplies from Russian ports decreased to a minimum over the past three months. On November 19, 2.7 million barrels of fuel were shipped, a smaller result this year was recorded only on August 20 and June 6.