Over the past year or so an area south of Greece has proved popular with tankers conducting ship-to-ship transfers of oil. Last week Bloomberg noted that tankers that transfer Russian oil from ship to ship had sailed further out into the Mediterranean after naval exercises were announced in the area where the cargo switching normally takes place.
The Greek Navy drills began on May 1st and will end on May 9th the Hellenic Navy Hydrographic Service said in a notice on its website.
When sanctions were placed on Russian oil sales following the war in Ukraine, the Laconian Gulf became a major location for switching cargoes between vessels. It enabled some ships to shuttle to and from Russian ports, and others to do the long-distance voyages to buyers in Asia.
Since the start of this month, vessels have left the gulf and are instead clustered just to its south, according to Inc.
Elsewhere, Bloomberg noted that in April an STS transfer of crude oil had taken place in the Red Sea, first ever switch observed in that location in ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg
The Panta Rei 1 transferred its cargo onto the Odysseus, which then transported its consignment to India. That’s the first ever switch observed in that location in ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
