New York-London: The new world created by the Russian invasion of Ukraine established a new center for oil trade in the world, which is the city of Ceuta , which is a small enclave on the coast of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea, and is occupied, like Melilla, by Spain.
In the calm waters of this enclave Russia exchanges tankers of Russian crude oil; It is a method that allows Russia to reduce shipping costs, circumvent Western restrictions and sanctions, and facilitate supplies to remaining customers of Russian oil.
The result, according to economic analyst Javier Blas, in an analysis published by Bloomberg News, quoted by the DPA agency, is the continued flow of Russian oil to global markets in large quantities, approaching levels before the imposition of US and European sanctions on the Russian oil sector.
The result is the continued flow of Russian oil to global markets in large quantities, approaching levels before the imposition of US and European sanctions on the Russian oil sector.
The data raises questions about Morocco’s position in this situation, especially in light of what was put forward by a report by “Al-Quds Al-Arabi” that, in a historical precedent, Morocco accepted to convert the occupied cities of Ceuta and Melilla into an official customs point. And that the decision comes a few days before the Moroccan-Spanish summit, on which Rabat is betting a lot, especially in light of its tense relations with European institutions and with France.
And the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that work had begun to convert the cities of Ceuta and Melilla into two points of export and import between the two countries, and considered that this was a turning point in the history of the two countries. The government delegation in Ceuta had made it clear that this process began last Friday with a trial operation to export cleaning materials to Moroccan territory, and the process will develop, especially after the summit of the heads of government of the two countries, Aziz Akhannouch and Pedro Sanchez, on Wednesday and Thursday.
Morocco did not issue any official statement about this development, which could be classified as a real turning point, because despite the existence of smuggling from the two cities towards Moroccan territory, Morocco was refusing official recognition of commercial exchange, especially in the case of the city of Ceuta. While Melilla was a point of trade exchange and basically only some of Morocco's exports were more than those of Spain, because this situation was inherited by Morocco from an agreement dating back to the nineteenth century. Despite the passage of hundreds of thousands of people from Ceuta and Melilla to Morocco and in the opposite direction annually, Morocco did not recognize them as official customs points and a border center, but rather called them “Bab Ceuta” and “Bab Melilla”.
How did Ceuta become a magnet for Russia?
The analysis confirms that Russia did not use the waters near the port of Ceuta as a stopping point for its oil exports until its invasion of Ukraine. At the time, Moscow was shipping oil directly to European refineries in small tankers. But the Kremlin began using the waters near the Spanish-controlled city, which Morocco claims to regain sovereignty over, along with the Melilla enclave, as a base for transferring crude from large tankers to smaller ones intermittently, and then became widely used.
Blass tracks the path of Russian shipments as follows: Russia loads crude into small-sized tankers called Avaramaxis at Baltic Sea ports such as Primorsk and Ust-Luga. These tankers are forced to make their way through the snows of Antarctica during the winter, heading to the port of Ceuta. Near the city, these tankers, each carrying about 700 thousand barrels, are waiting for the arrival of a giant tanker of the “VLCC” class. After that, the small tanker approaches the giant tanker to transport the crude from the first to the second.
Moscow does not appear to be violating international law with these practices. Tankers are waiting 12 nautical miles from the shore, that is, they are parked outside the territorial waters of the port.
Each supertanker needs three small tankers to fill its storage, which holds about two million barrels. After that, the supertanker begins its journey towards Asia by circling Africa.
Since last December, 6 giant tankers have been loaded with more than 15 small tankers. Some of the workers in this activity are old black market activists, as they were shipping Iranian and Venezuelan crude oil to circumvent US sanctions, according to Vortexa Ltd., a shipping consultancy.
Moscow does not appear to be violating international law with these practices. Tankers are waiting 12 nautical miles from the shore, that is, they are standing outside the territorial waters of the port, although they sometimes appear to be within the territorial waters. Russia also abides by international rules, by keeping tankers' beacons lit during exchange operations. But the activity is fraught with risks, and most tankers say that the city of Ceuta has been witnessing its best days since last December. The age of the oldest carriers operating in this activity is 26 years, which is equivalent to about 70 years for the human age. Most of these tankers are owned by Russian or Chinese companies.
For its part, Spain is keen to conduct naval patrols near the area, to ensure that no violations are committed. One reason Russia does not use cargo-swap points between other carriers, including Skow in Denmark and Southwold in England, is that local authorities there do not welcome such maneuvers.
Russia adheres to international rules, for its part, Spain is keen to conduct naval patrols near the area, to ensure that no violations are committed.
On the other hand, there are three reasons why the Ceuta region is suitable for Russian activity. First, despite Russia spending hundreds of millions of dollars to build a fleet of small Afaramaxis tankers of unknown ownership, Russia does not have many tankers capable of penetrating snow, and it is one of the most expensive types of tankers. Therefore, sending these carriers directly from Russia to China or India means that they quickly exhaust all their shipping capabilities due to the length of this journey, while the small tanker does not need more than 10 days to reach Ceuta, compared to 50 days to reach China.
The second reason is to greatly reduce costs, as transporting oil to Asia using supertankers is less expensive than transporting it using small tankers. Since there are a large number of large carriers on the market, they are currently cheaper. The cost of renting a giant tanker is less than 20 thousand dollars per day, while the rent for a small tanker is 55 thousand dollars per day.
As for the third reason, it is that the city of Ceuta is the right place, because it is located in the Mediterranean Sea, far from the strong winds and high waves in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is also close to the Strait of Gibraltar, where supertankers, loaded with oil, can quickly return to the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean to reach Asia.
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