China’s largest ports join sanctions against the “shadow fleet” transporting Russian crude oil.
China is closing key oil ports in the country’s east to tankers on U.S. sanctions lists, Polish outlet Do Rzeczy reported, citing Reuters.
According to the sources, the restrictions were announced by Shandong Port Group, one of the largest port operators in China, which manages ports in Shandong Province, where most of the sanctioned oil from Russia, Iran and Venezuela is imported.
According to the company’s decision, as of Monday, Jan. 6, tankers from the “shadow fleet” will be prohibited from mooring, unloading or receiving other port services in the ports of the province, which is one of the main industrial centers of the People’s Republic of China.
The shadow fleet restrictions also apply to Qingdao, China’s fifth-largest port, as well as the ports of Rizhao and Yantai. They could lead to a slowdown in China’s imports of sanctioned oil, Reuters sources said.
Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ hit with more sanctions, China joins
According to experts, the current “shadow fleet” that carries Russian oil without sanctions has 669 tankers. Last year, China bought 1.74 million barrels a day, almost a fifth of its total oil imports, through ports in Shandong Province, where many refineries are located.
In late 2024, the United States, Britain and the European Union imposed restrictions on about 180 tankers that were carrying Russian-origin oil in breach of sanctions and a $60-a-barrel price cap. Bloomberg calculated that more than 100 of those tankers were forced to anchor and stop carrying Russian oil.
A new blow to Putin’s “shadow fleet” may be the “farewell” sanctions imposed by the outgoing administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, which, according to The Washington Post, plans to blacklist about a hundred more ships.
Washington is also considering measures including a complete embargo on Russian oil, as well as the revocation of oil and gas transaction licenses issued to sanctioned Russian banks, including Sberbank, VTB and Alfa Bank.
