Sanctioned vessel Noble Walker carrying Russian oil has changed course to India’s Vadinar port after the country’s Adani Group banned entry of blacklisted ships at its Mundra port, ship tracking data showed on Monday.
The Noble Walker, carrying about a million barrels of Russian crude for Indian refiner HPCL Mittal Energy Ltd, was until Friday headed to Mundra, according to shipping reports and data from LSEG and Kpler.
The vessel has been blacklisted by the European Union and Britain for breaching sanctions in transporting Russian oil.
Last week, Adani issued orders barring entry of vessels that are sanctioned by the EU, Britain and the United States at its 14 ports including Mundra in western India. Indian refiners HMEL and Indian Oil Corp use the port for oil imports, including from Russia.
India has become the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian oil after Western sanctions imposed on Moscow for its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
However, India has been tightening surveillance of vessels and transactions involving Russian supplies.
Russian oil is mostly shipped by a so-called shadow fleet after the United States, EU and Britain imposed a raft of sanctions targeting vessels, traders and companies among others to curb Moscow’s oil revenue, its economic lifeline.