India's Nayara resorts to transferring fuel exports at sea

The Tempest Dream completed a ship-to-ship transfer on Thursday in the waters off Oman to move the gasoline shipment to Wu Tai, a larger tanker

One of the first cargoes shipped by Nayara Energy Ltd. after it was hit by EU sanctions has been transferred to another tanker at sea, evidence the Indian refiner is trying to keep exporting fuel.

The Tempest Dream completed a ship-to-ship transfer on Thursday in the waters off Oman to move the gasoline shipment to Wu Tai, a larger tanker, according to a Bloomberg News review of ship-tracking data and satellite images. Tempest Dream then indicated that it would head back to Vadinar, Nayara’s terminal in western India.

The embattled refiner, which is 49%-owned by Russia’s Rosneft PJSC, has found itself being shunned after it was sanctioned last month by the European Union. That’s left it grappling with a lack of feedstock and has seen it cut run rates at its Vadinar refinery. Ship-to-ship transfers are a common tactic to mask the origins of cargoes, and may allow Nayara to keep exporting fuel. The waters off Oman are a popular place to do them.

Tempest Dream was carrying more than 360,000 barrels of gasoline before the transfer on Tuesday, according to Vortexa. It’s now sitting higher in the water, Bloomberg and Kpler data show, indicating that it’s shed at least some of the fuel. The Wu Tai, which is used for floating storage, is now holding around 460,000 barrels, with room to take more.

Fuel exports from Nayara that were already on water before the EU sanctioned the refiner on July 18 have also faced delays in finding takers. One cargo was diverted to China on Tuesday after finding a new buyer, four weeks after it was picked up from Vadinar.

Tempest Dream, previously named Unite, was sanctioned by the UK for its involvement in the Russian oil trade, while Wu Tai was blacklisted by the UK and the EU for the same reason. Tempest Dream’s owner is listed as Istanbul-based Tempest Maritime Services Trading on S&P’s maritime database, while Wu Tai’s owner is listed as Namas Maritime Inc., which is based in the Seychelles. The database did not provide contact numbers or email addresses for the companies.

An email to Nayara seeking comment sent outside of business hours wasn’t immediately answered.