A sanctioned tanker carrying a gasoline additive from China appears to be heading to Russia along the Northern Sea Route, a rare journey that suggests attacks on its refineries continue to force one of the world’s top fuel exporters to turn to Asia for supplies.
The Dakar, a small carrier blacklisted by the European Union earlier this year, is heading west along Russia’s Arctic coast carrying methyl tert-butyl ether, or MTBE, according to Kpler. The chemical, used to improve gasoline quality, was loaded onto another ship — the Yorik — in China in early August before being transferred to the Dakar off Yeosu, South Korea, in early September, Kpler data show.
The Dakar is not signaling a destination, but is likely to be headed for Russia as its sanctioned status makes it difficult to call into major European ports.
Russia is typically a net exporter of fuels such as diesel, but escalating Ukrainian attacks have significantly hobbled processing and resulted in domestic shortages. The MTBE shipment follows a jump in product flows to Russia from South Korea and India in July and August, including jet fuel.
The Northern Sea Route is typically plied by vessels with reinforced hulls, though sanctioned ships without ice-class certification — like the Dakar — have made the passage in warmer months. Observed deliveries from South Korea and India didn’t transit the Arctic route.
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A record volume of around 700,000 barrels of oil products was transported from South Korea to Russia in August, along with about 320,000 barrels from India, according to Kpler. That followed more than 1.2 million barrels in July, mostly from the South Asian nation.
One vessel alone, the Aram Khachaturian, made three deliveries during July and August, transporting about 260,000 barrels of clean products, making it the most prolific tanker on the route during that period. Nine other tankers, including some sanctioned by the EU and UK, were also involved, with some making deliveries through ship-to-ship transfers.
Fuel flows to Russia have eased since that jump, as Asia heads into the Northern Hemisphere winter. Preliminary Kpler data show no Indian exports to Russia in September, though such voyages take more than a month to complete and flows may show up later.
Previously, monthly fuel exports to Russia hadn’t exceeded 150,000 barrels since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to Kpler figures.
It’s unclear who ultimately exported the recent shipments from Asia. The South Korean deliveries were largely made from Ulsan, which has numerous storage tanks that allow exporters from elsewhere to hold fuel before sending it to its final destination, according to Kpler, Vortexa and Signal Ocean data. The Guardian first reported the shipments.
Dakar’s owner is Vulcano Marine SA, which shares the same address as its manager, Ultramarine Navigation Management in Dubai, according to database Equasis. A person who answered a call made to Vulcano Marine said it was the wrong phone number, while there were no other contact details listed for Ultramarine Navigation.