South Korean ports loaded 176,000 tonnes of fuel onto Russian tankers, including ships under UK and EU sanctions

More than 176,000 tonnes of fuel, mostly diesel, were loaded at South Korean ports onto Russian tankers that are under sanctions. The figure comes from an analysis of port records and ship-tracking data reported by the Kyiv Independent from a Guardian investigation. Seven Russian tankers, three of them sanctioned by the United Kingdom and the European Union, made 14 trips from Russia's Far East ports to South Korea and back.

The Guardian's reporting describes how the cargoes moved. The sanctioned tanker Layla made two trips carrying a total of 57,000 tonnes of diesel from Ulsan to Vladivostok. On the first trip it told South Korean authorities it was going to Vladivostok. On the second it gave Niigata, Japan, as its destination. A third sanctioned tanker, the Chongchon, never docked at a terminal. It took on about 26,000 tonnes in early August through a ship-to-ship transfer from an unsanctioned tanker, the Celeste I, at an anchorage off the southern port of Yeosu.

The trade does not appear to break South Korean law. Seoul's export controls on Russia cover electronics, machinery and vehicles, not refined fuel, so loading a ship listed by London or Brussels is not illegal in a Korean port. The research group Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) contributed analysis to the findings. The reporting reviewed did not include a public response from the South Korean government.