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18-09-2025
Bureau Report
NEW DELHI: Sanctioned tanker Spartan has discharged Russian crude oil at India’s Mundra port despite a ban by the Adani Group on entry of blacklisted ships at the terminal, ship tracking data from LSEG and Kpler showed on Tuesday.
The Suezmax tanker discharged 1 million barrels of Urals crude at Indian refiner HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd.’s (HMEL) Mundra terminal, Kpler data showed.
Spartan, formerly known as SCF Samatlor, has been blacklisted by the European Union and Britain for breaching sanctions in transporting Russian oil.
The ship is managed by Dubai-based Nova Ship-management and owned by Citrine Marine, Equasis data showed.
HMEL and Nova Ship-management did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside office hours. Media has not been able to find any contact information for Dubai-based Citrine Marine.
On Monday, another sanctioned vessel carrying Russian oil, Noble Walker, changed course to India’s Vadinar port. The Noble Walker, carrying about 1 million barrels of Russian crude for HMEL, was until Friday headed to Mundra, according to shipping reports and data from LSEG and Kpler.
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, opens new tab use the port for oil imports, including from Russia.
India’s largest private port operator, Adani Group, has banned entry of tankers that are sanctioned by Western countries at all of its ports, three sources said and documents show, a move that could hit Russian oil supplies for two Indian refiners.
Adani did not immediately respond to media requests for comment.
India is the biggest buyer of Russian seaborne oil, mostly shipped on tankers that are sanctioned by the European Union, the United States and Britain.
HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd, which operates a 226,000-barrels per day Bathinda refinery in northern Punjab state, gets all of its crude supplies at Adani’s Mundra Port in western Gujarat state.
The port is also used by Indian Oil Corp, opens new tab, the country’s biggest refiner, for oil imports. IOC gets crude supplies for its 10 refineries at multiple ports in India.
The two companies regularly get Russian oil delivered at Mundra Port, according to data obtained from sources and LSEG trade flows.
India has a policy to follow only UN sanctions, and not unilateral sanctions by any country.
IOC will try to get Russian oil cargoes at other ports, which still allow entry of EU and UK sanctioned-vessels, said a source familiar with IOC’s oil purchases.
Adani, which operates 14 ports, has issued multiple orders with similar contents.
“To safeguard the legal and commercial interests of the Port, we hereby emphasize that sanctioned vessels are not accepted,” Adani Ports and Logistics said in the orders seen by media.
India, the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian oil, has been tightening surveillance of vessels and transactions involving Russian supplies.
Russian oil is mostly shipped by a shadow fleet, after the US, EU and UK imposed a raft of sanctions targeting vessels, traders and companies among others to curb Moscow’s oil revenue, its economic lifeline.
The orders said that sanctioned vessels shall not be permitted entry, berthing or use of port services and facilities.
