Danshui

There was evidence of transshipments of sanctioned Russian oil at transfer locations in the Gulf of Oman, destined for delivery to the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery in Punjab, a facility co-owned by Mittal Energy. Involved were four sanctioned tankers, which each loaded in Murmansk, the 'Belgorod' (IMO: 9412359), 'Danshui', 'Dignity' ( IMO: 9283241) and 'Primorye' (IMO: 9421960). All tankers were sanctioned by the USA (OFAC), UK (OFSI) and the EU. The receiving vessel was the 'Samada' (IMO: 9286281), owned by the Seychelles-registered Erika Freight Ltd,m which uses an address associated with multiple dark fleet vessels. The STS took place in an area 40 nautical miles due east of Sohar, outside Omani territorial waters. The four tankers from Murmansk switched off their AIS transponders as they approached the Gulf of Oman, whilst the 'Samadha' sent out a spoofed AIS signal suggesting that it made a circular journey from India to Oman before turning back, without meeting any of the Russian shadow tankers. The value of the four loads transported between July and September has been estimated as $280 million. The OFSI sanctioned the 'Samadha' on Oct 15, 2025, the EU had already sanctioned the vessel on July 20. The tanker for the moment remained free of OFAC sanctions. Sanctions databases linked the 'Samadha' at some point to what is now the NorthStandard P&I Association, but the post-sanctions insurance relationship is not clear. The 'Samadha' has unloaded at Mundra on the Gujarati coast, the head of the 625-mile crude pipeline to the Guru Gobind Singh refinery, which is a joint venture between the state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Company and the Mittal Energy Ltd. The executive chairman of Arcelor Mittal is Lakshmi Mittal, who has recently announced that for tax reasons he will be giving up his UK residency. Arcelor Mittal has substantial steel and mining investments in both the EU and the UK. The latest AIS data has put the 'Samadha' off the coast of Russia's Kola Peninsula, en route to Murmansk. Photos: https://x.com/TankerTrackers/status/1983452592362434679