Reuters: Major ports in China are refusing to accept Russian tankers from the "shadow" fleet.

China is shutting down key oil ports in the eastern part of the country for tankers that are on the U.S. sanctions lists.

This was reported by Reuters, citing traders familiar with the situation.

According to agency sources, the restrictions were announced by Shandong Port Group – one of the largest port operators in China, which oversees ports in Shandong province, where sanctioned oil is imported from Russia, Iran, and Venezuela.

Under the company's decision, "shadow" tankers are prohibited from docking or unloading in the province's ports starting Monday, January 6, which is one of China's major industrial centers.

Last year, through the ports of Shandong province, which houses numerous refineries, China imported 1.74 million barrels per day, or nearly one-fifth of its oil imports. The restrictions on "shadow" tankers will affect at least three ports in the province, which could slow China's import of sanctioned oil, according to Reuters sources.

Currently, the active "shadow" fleet transporting oil to bypass sanctions consists of 669 tankers, estimates analyst Michelle Wiese Bockmann from Lloyd's List Intelligence. Russian barrels, she estimates, are regularly transported by 250–300 vessels (excluding "Sovcomflot" tankers that are under Western restrictions).

By the end of 2024, the U.S., the U.K., and the European Union have listed around 180 tankers that transported Russian oil to circumvent sanctions. Of these, more than 100 tankers have been forced to anchor and no longer transport oil from Russia.

A new blow to the Kremlin's "shadow" fleet could come from the "farewell" sanctions of the Joe Biden administration, which, according to The Washington Post, plans to blacklist around a hundred more vessels.