MOSCOW: Russia has increased its oil product exports via ship-to-ship transfers after Western sanctions and harsh winter weather triggered a shortage of suitable tankers to serve Russian ports, traders said and LSEG data showed.
STS transfers allow in-demand ice-class tankers to focus on transporting products from Russian ports to vessels in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, which then carry cargoes on to Asian ports, rather than making the longer journey themselves.
That helps secure cargoes to a variety of destinations as the war in Iran continues to disrupt global energy supplies, driving up oil prices.
Asian countries have become the main destination for Russia’s refined product exports since the European Union’s full embargo on Russian oil products in 2023. Severe frosts in early 2026 tightened ice navigation rules in the Baltic.
From mid-February, non-ice-class tankers were barred from Russia’s Baltic ports, while ice-strengthened Ice1–Ice2 vessels were required to take icebreakers.
