Kamal Ghorui
India-flagged tanker Jag Laadki, carrying crude oil imported from the UAE, arrives at Mundra port in Gujarat on Wednesday
NEW DELHI: Amid the scarcity of oil, a tanker carrying Russian crude that is likely to dock at New Mangalore Port on Saturday, according to data from ship tracking website Marine Traffic, is generating significant interest.The ship, Aqua Titan, was originally headed for the Chinese port of Rizhao, but turned towards India, news agency Bloomberg reported.What made it change cou-rse was unclear, although govt maintained that it was “unaware of such a development”.The Russian ship had loaded the cargo from a Baltic Sea port in late Jan, according to ship-tracking data.At least seven tankers carrying Russian oil have switched their destinations mid-voyage from China to India, Bloomberg said, quoting data from Vortexa.Separately, the Suezmax Zouzou N is signalling India’s Sikka as its next destination, with an estimated arrival date of March 25, ship-tracking data shows. The tanker is carrying Kazakh CPC Blend crude, according to Kpler. It had sailed from Novorossiysk on Russia’s Black Sea to the waters off Rizhao, before turning around in early March to make its way to India.Govt has asked oil companies to purchase crude and stock up in the wake of a massive supply disruption caused by the blockage in Strait of Hormuz.While India had never stopped purchasing Russian oil, despite claims made by the US, refiners led by Reliance Industries – which was the biggest gainer of discounted oil – had gone slow on Rosneft and Lukoil after American sanctions. But with the US removing restrictions on high sea purchases, every country is now buying oil according to its requirement, seeking to fill the gap caused by the West Asian crude shortage.India’s purchases of Russian crude have surged nearly 50% in March as refiners turn to alternative sources to offset supply disruptions in the Persian Gulf.Special secretary shipping Rajesh Kumar Sinha said 11 of the 22 ships stranded on the western side of Strait of Hormuz are carrying around two lakh tonne of LNG, 16.7 lakh tonne of crude oil and 3.2 lakh tonne of LPG.
