An oil tanker of the shadowy fleet carrying Russian oil had an engine failure while passing through the Turkish Dardanelles Strait, which led to a temporary blockage of maritime traffic, UNN reports with reference to Bloomberg.
Details
The incident involving Hera 1 occurred near the strait's entry point in northwestern Turkey at 6:55 a.m. local time, causing southbound traffic to be suspended for three hours while a rescue operation was conducted, according to local shipping agents.
Southbound traffic resumed at 10 a.m. local time, and the tanker is now at anchor. "However, it is a reminder that millions of barrels of Russian oil are moving around the world - often through narrow sea lanes with no clarity on how they are insured," the newspaper notes.
The vessel was heading toward the Suez Canal with a cargo of about 730,000 barrels of Russian oil loaded at the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, according to ship tracking data collected by Bloomberg. According to the shipping information obtained by Bloomberg, its final destination is India.
Its insurer and beneficial owner are not listed in the International Maritime Organization's database, which is noted to be consistent with the generally accepted sign of a "shadow fleet" vessel.