Ceuta and Kalamata replace Skaw as STS hubs - Vortexa

Areas off Spain's Ceuta and Greece's Kalamata have emerged as key hubs for ship-to-ship transfers of Russian Urals crude oil, after Moscow’s war in Ukraine triggered sanctions on its oil by top customers in the EU.

CHART: Share of Russian Urals transferred via STS off Ceuta, Kalamata and other STS locations, by initial loading month (%) vs Russian Urals exports. Vortexa

Global trade flows have changed since the war, with one of the fallouts being that the EU has been replaced by India and China as top destinations for Russian oil exports.

Voyages to these countries are much longer for ships loading in Russian Baltic Sea and Black Sea ports. Sanctions have limited the number of vessels Russia can use in an already-tight tanker market. Ship-to-ship transfer activity has been increasing to solve some of these challenges for Russian exporters.

To transport Urals crude to India, China or other willing buyers, Russia is using its fleet of smaller vessels to load up oil and transfer it to bigger tankers not subject to EU sanctions. Ceuta and Kalamata have become favourable locations for these Urals transfers as it is easier to move products to India and China from these locations, Vortexa crude analyst Armen Azizian says.

Before the war there was a popular STS transfer area off Denmark's Skaw. Half of the STS transfers of Russian Urals were handled off Skaw from April 2021 to February 2022. After the war started, off Skaw has accounted for just 2% of these transfers as Danish authorities have imposed strict controls.

Off Ceuta was involved in 9% of STS Russian Urals exports in December. 11% of exports were handled in Kalamata, according to Vortexa.

The emergence of new STS hubs should also lead to more activity along these coasts and potentially new trading terminals. In December, Russia announced it will establish a new anchorage near its Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga to handle STS transfers of refined products.

By Debarati Bhattacharjee

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