The big jam of oil tankers: Sanctions also affect supplies of non-Russian oil
Created: 2022-12-10, 21:00
By: Lisa Mayerhofer
Tankers transporting overpriced Russian oil have been immediately losing their insurer's coverage since December 5th.
(Archive image) © IMAGO/Vitaly Timkiv
Many oil tankers who want to cross the Bosphorus to the Mediterranean are currently stuck in Turkey because of the oil price cap and an insurance dispute.
Non-sanctioned oil tankers are also affected.
Ankara – A consequence of the oil price cap that came into force on Monday can now be seen on the Bosporus: At least 20 oil tankers are currently damming up in Turkish waters in order to get from the Russian Black Sea ports via the Bosporus to the Mediterranean, a shipping industry insider told the Reuters news
agency
.
Oil price cap: no insurance cover for oil tankers who avoid sanctions
Further delays are to be expected, since the operators first have to take out new insurance policies as part of the oil price cap.
The problem: Because of the new sanctions of the G7 and the EU states as well as Australia, the oil business by ship is faced with new challenges.
For example, companies from the respective Western countries are only allowed to do business related to the ship transport of Russian oil to third countries if the upper limit of 60 dollars is observed when selling the oil - and that also affects insurance companies.
Companies from G7 countries currently provide around 90 percent of transport insurance worldwide and the EU is an important player in the sea freight business.
In other words, as of December 5, tankers transporting overpriced Russian oil immediately lost their insurer's coverage.
However, these are extremely important for everyone involved, since potential damage such as collisions or leaks in the oil tank can cost billions.
Traffic jam on the Bosphorus: Turkey demands insurance confirmations from oil tankers
The Turkish shipping authorities have responded by issuing a statement in mid-November that they still expect full insurance coverage from Western insurance companies for all ships in Turkish waters - even if the insured breaches the sanctions.
The insurance companies rejected this on Monday, as this requirement would violate the sanctions.
Now, since December, Turkey has required all oil-laden ships attempting to cross the Bosphorus to write a letter from their insurer confirming that coverage for incidents such as oil spills and collisions will remain in place.
The British newspaper Financial Times
reports that ships transporting oil from Kazakhstan are particularly affected
.
Kazakh oil itself is not affected by the sanctions against Russia.
Nevertheless: The first tanker arrived at the Bosphorus on November 29 and has been waiting for six days, a ship dealer who wished to remain anonymous told the magazine on Monday.
The tanker backlog indicates that the oil price cap is also affecting global supplies of non-Russian oil.
Normally, millions of barrels of oil are transported through the Bosphorus to the Mediterranean Sea every day – and thus also to Europe.
Expert: Russia's 'shadow fleet' of oil tankers increases risk of environmental disasters
Russia itself has probably already implemented its own plans to circumvent the oil price cap.
Apparently, the Kremlin is working on building up its own tanker fleet from used oil tankers, which it can insure and operate without the involvement of Western companies.
However, most of the ships purchased are quite old, energy expert Adnan Vatansever explains to Der
Spiegel
.
also read
Retire Abroad: The Five Best Countries for Retirement Under Palm Trees
READ
Heating oil prices at record levels: what experts expect for 2023
READ
Property tax “unconstitutional”: law professor advises owners in several federal states to sue
READ
Energy flat rate for pensioners not received?
You have to do that now for the 300 euros
READ
Billions in imports: EU buys large quantities of Russian liquid gas
READ
Fancy a journey of discovery?
My space
"I don't know what condition the ships from Iran and Venezuela are in, for example - countries whose economies have been suffering from Western sanctions for years," the expert added to the magazine.
He also doubts that Russian ship insurers would check the condition closely.
This also increases the risk of accidents and the risk of environmental disasters.
According to an EU representative, building such a fleet would be “very complicated” in the short term.
He also reckoned that Russia would have trouble attracting customers.
With material from the dpa