/ world today news/ Dozens of tankers with millions of barrels of oil have gathered near the Bosphorus. Ankara does not miss ships, citing insurance requirements. These vessels do not fall under the embargo imposed by the EU and the Russian oil price cap. And they mainly carry Kazakh oil. What is happening in the Turkish Straits?
Turkish authorities will develop a plan to withdraw oil tankers from the Sea of Marmara that do not have documents confirming their insurance status but intend to pass through the Dardanelles to the Mediterranean Sea, according to a statement from the Turkish Transport Ministry’s General Directorate of Maritime Affairs. The document criticizes insurance companies that refuse to provide oil tankers with insurance letters.
Earlier in the day, the Turkish Ministry of Transport announced that the country’s authorities have no intention of allowing oil tankers through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles without insurance documents. We remind you that on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that due to the requirements of the Turkish government to provide insurance, a traffic jam was formed by tankers in the Black Sea on the way to the Bosphorus. 26 ships carrying about 23 million barrels of crude oil ended up in an unexpected “parking lot”, reports the agency. Bloomberg’s sources said that all the tankers have left Russian ports.
At the same time, according to online maps, about 80% of anchored tankers are Turkish. The Russian ships “Lady Maria”, “Lady Aria”, “Captain Barmin”, “General Skobelev”, “Caminero” and “Rochem 2” are anchored near the strait. “Mechanic Erokhin” and “Volga River” move towards the Bosphorus from the Dardanelles.
We remind you that since December 1, Turkey has introduced additional requirements for crude oil tankers intending to pass through the Black Sea straits – these requirements imply the mandatory presence of the mentioned insurance letters. More precisely, they need to have a certain type of insurance – P&I (Protection and Indemnity). This is necessary to cover liability in cases such as damage to third parties, the environment or cargo, as well as fines and related them penalties during the operation of their ships.
According to Bloomberg, the tightened Turkish requirements are caused by Ankara’s fears of acting as a violator of the price limit. As you know, on Monday, the EU embargo on Russian oil transported by tankers came into force, and the price ceiling for sea supplies of this resource came into effect. The British “Financial Times” also linked the formation of tanker congestion with the introduction of an anti-Russian price ceiling.
At the same time, according to Bloomberg, all but one of the tankers are carrying Kazakh oil, which is not subject to the price ceiling. It is true that Magzum Mirzagaliev, chairman of the board of the Kazakh national company Kazmunaigaz, said that only 10 tankers in Turkey are connected to Astana. But anyway, Kazakhstan appears to be affected by the EU’s anti-Russian restrictions.
Significantly, on Thursday, Western officials accused Turkey of illegally cutting off crude oil supplies through the Black Sea, the Financial Times reported. According to them, the vessels should be missed because they were fueled from Kazakhstan, not Russia.
Igor Yushkov, an expert from the Financial University of the Government of the Russian Federation and the National Energy Security Fund, admits that the occurrence of “plugged” tankers can have two explanations.
First, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has decided to somehow ensure that the West, which imposed a price ceiling, has no claim on Turkey as a transit country. Therefore, Ankara decided to delay the passage of all tankers, explaining this by the introduction of new Turkish requirements. “The presence of Kazakh oil in the traffic jam is more of an accident,” Yushkov believes.
It can be assumed that Turkey has changed the insurance rules, expecting new sanctions to be introduced to prohibit the provision of insurance if the price of oil is below the ceiling, the expert said.
At the same time, there is not a single tanker with potentially sanctioned oil in the strait, Yushkov pointed out. “The first reports of traffic jams appeared on December 6. Accordingly, ships loaded before December 5 are in the Black Sea, they are not subject to sanctions,” the analyst noted.
The second explanation for Turkey’s behavior is not only Erdogan’s desire not to create problems with the West, but also that artificially creating a traffic jam is profitable for the Turkish side, Yushkov believes. “She understands that Russia, faced with sanctions and a shortage of tankers, will be forced to speed up the processes of loading, unloading and transporting oil. And the delays slow down the pace, which will lead to a decrease in the volume of Russian oil exports,” explained Yushkov.
“And then Ankara can offer to send our raw materials to Turkey. This will be the shortest route. That is, two goals are pursued at the same time: to get a big discount and large quantities of Russian fuel,” the source explains.
“It is written in the EU sanctions that oil cannot be sold from the Russian Federation just like that. But with the slightest processing, the restrictions fall away. And it is profitable for Turkey to maximally load its refineries with our raw materials and then sell hydrocarbons to Europe at a market price,” Yushkov said.
The head of the Analytical Bureau of the Sonar-2050 project, Ivan Lisan, sees in what is happening in the Bosphorus not the intention of Ankara, but rather a combination of circumstances that arose due to the fault of EU bureaucrats – the initiators of introducing a ceiling on the price of our oil.
“It is important to understand that it is not Russian oil that is stuck in the Black Sea. Kazakhstan’s product suffers. “Apparently, European bureaucrats, together with representatives of the G7 countries, when deciding on the price ceiling and related restrictions, did not take into account the fact that the oil transported through Russian ports is not necessarily a product of local origin,” says Lisan.
“Apparently no one thought about either Kazakhstan or the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. This demonstrates well the level of expertise in the EU. After all, it is always important to prescribe some situations as exceptions, “the expert claims.
“Turkey and Russia have already resolved insurance issues bilaterally,” Lizan said. “Astana will have to wait until the Europeans send clarifications to the insurance companies about Kazakh oil.”
“Turkey can be understood: a huge number of ships with various types of cargo pass through the straits. There is always a risk that some oil will leak from the tanker. In this case, who will pay for the damage along the coast around Istanbul? It is important for Turkey to understand what will happen in this case,” the analyst said.
“I repeat that Russia has already discussed everything with Turkey on this issue bilaterally for a long time. Relations between Ankara and Moscow, of course, are not the easiest, but nevertheless we have always managed to come to an agreement if necessary, “Lizan summarizes.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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