Greek tanker carrying Russian oil attacked near Novorossiysk
REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini
A Greek tanker was attacked in the Black Sea on Aug. 16
after taking on a cargo of Russian
oil, Bloomberg reported
on Aug. 17, citing people familiar with the matter.
Sources told Bloomberg the vessel, the Suezmax-class Skiros, can carry about 1 million barrels of oil and was struck after loading at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal near Russia’s Novorossiysk.
Although CPC mainly loads Kazakh oil, the shipment in question was of Russian origin, the sources said.
An Athens-based company listed in the Equasis shipping database as the Skiros’s operator said no one was injured and there was no pollution from the incident. The company said the vessel’s owners were notified but gave no further comment.
“That’s the first strike on a vessel calling at the CPC terminal — the critical conduit for Kazakh crude exports — after almost a three-week lull in attacks,” Bloomberg noted.
“Last month, repeated drone strikes disrupted loading of CPC cargoes, that recently accounted for almost 2% of global oil supplies, and forced Kazakh oil fields to reduce production.”
The Financial Times reported earlier this month that Ukraine had agreed to refrain from striking CPC infrastructure and non-Russian ships bound for the CPC terminal, provided those vessels are not subject to Ukrainian sanctions and are not carrying Russian cargo.
Among CPC’s owners are Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil, along with state-owned Russian and Kazakh pipeline and oil and gas companies.
In late July, after several attacks on tankers, CPC
considered suspending operations to avoid environmental and safety risks but
ultimately decided to continue.
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