The Theseus tanker has finally been permitted to offload its cargo of Russian crude into storage tanks at Tema Oil Refinery after being anchored full off the port since Feb. 24.
The tanker left its initial anchorage on Thursday and moored at the single-point mooring on Friday afternoon, with data showing it left the SPM on Monday morning, having loaded around 600,000 barrels of crude from the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. This is the first observed Russian shipment to Ghana in at least four years.
National Petroleum Authority granted a delivery period for the cargo to be unloaded, but national security considerations held up the process, according to sources. Clearance was given for the tanker after claims that the cargo was from Kazakhstan, one of the sources said. However, a port agent report for Novorossiysk and data from data intelligence firms Vortexa and Kpler showed it originated from Russia.
Platon Gas Oil Ghana Ltd. has been identified as the purchaser of the cargo by the Accra-based Institute for Energy Security.
The company, which operates a small refinery adjacent to the Tema refinery, leased storage tanks at its larger neighbour. It would take at least six months for Platon to process the crude, according to IES Executive Director Nana Amoasi VII.
National Petroleum Authority head had previously stated that the shipment would be blocked if it were bound for the country, and the Tema refinery, Ghana's only major crude processing plant, has been shut for about two years, although government has given assurances that it will resume this year.
The Theseus tanker's cargo was finally permitted to be unloaded after a delay caused by national security considerations.
Hmm