Turkish tanker logjam eases
There are signs that the tanker logjam in and around the Bosporus is easing with another four tankers set to pass through the busy straits today.
Ankara’s decision demanding that all tankers from this month must carry a letter of insurance when transiting Turkish waters had seen many ships backing up outside the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, with diplomats from the US, the European Union and the UK trying to broker a way to out of the impasse.
Both straits are finally open. Both Kazakh and Russian oils are now flowing
Over the weekend, analysts at TankerTrackers.com noted four tankers getting through and on Sunday Turkish maritime authorities said another four would be allowed to pass today.
“You’ll see tankers now approaching the Suez Canal area from Turkey. Some also went to Europe. More are pouring in from the Black Sea as well, so both straits are finally open. Both Kazakh and Russian oils are now flowing,” Samir Madani, the founder of TankerTrackers.com, told Splash today.
Despite the apparent easing of tanker flows in the region, Turkey has warned that ships loitering at the entrance of the Dardanelles without the right insurance paperwork will be removed. An initial five ships have been forced to move south, Turkey’s maritime authority said on Sunday.
The Turkish insurance decision comes over growing fears of tanker accidents as Russia seeks out vintage tonnage to move crude exports with a new Western-backed Russian oil price cap coming in to place as well as the European Union’s ban of seaborne crude imports, the latest in a series of sanctions in the near 300 days since Russia invaded Ukraine.
In related news from the war in Ukraine, the country’s agriculture minister said over the weekend that the Black Sea port of Odessa is not operating following the latest Russian drone attack on the region’s energy system and that grain traders will continue to ship the crops via two other ports authorised to export grains under the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative.
On Saturday, Russia hit two energy facilities in Odessa, leaving all non-critical infrastructures without power.
Pictured below is an updated playback of all vessel types activity in and around the Bosporus during the last 24 hours as shown on MarineTraffic Live Map with red dots indicating ships idling, waiting to transit.
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