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Campaigners have warned that the 'Seferis', destined for the port of Kwinana, was carrying Russian oil despite sanctions put in place because of the Ukraine war. The 'Seferis' left Sitka two weeks ago full of oil from the Jamnagar refinery, and it is due to arrive in the outer-Perth suburb of Kwinana on July 27 at 4 a.m. The Jamnagar refinery is notoriously fed by Russian crude oil, with as much as 55 per cent of their 2025 stock coming from the European pariah. The alarm has been raised about a “loophole” that allows Russian oil to be bought and sold in Australia, with local campaigners and parliamentarians calling for immediate action. The Independent federal MP Andrew Wilkie raised the issue in Question Time on July 25: “In July, two vessels reportedly docked in Botany Bay, with some 175,000 tonnes of petrol from the Jamnagar refinery in India, which uses up to 55 per cent Russian oil. So these vessels effectively carry some 90,000 tonnes of Russian-sourced petrol, paid for by Australians, which will help fund Putin’s war in Ukraine.” The loophole has recently been closed in the European Union, which has banned the importation of petroleum products refined form Russian crude oil in its 18th sanctions package against Russia. The Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations has urged Australia to take similar action. Since February 2023, Australia has imported an estimated $3.7bn worth of Russian crude, as a component in refined petroleum products from Indian refineries – sending around $1.8bn in tax revenue to the Kremlin.

A number of sanctioned North Korean oil tankers, the 'Song Won 2' (IMO: 8312497), 'An San 1' (IMO: 7303803), 'Kum Jin Gang 3' (IMO 8791667) and 'Sin Phyong 9' have been openly transmitting AIS signals in Chinese waters in July 2025, despite U.N. resolution requiring Beijing to seize and inspect the vessels, as China and Russia were ignoring illicit DPRK activity. The latter three have also frequented an oil pier at Russia’s Vostochny Port, the DPRK tankers’ main destination for fuel runs, in the past. The vessels were underway presumably for fuel pickups. The four ships were under U.N. sanctions. A fifth vessel, the 'Chong Ryong San', was not subject to U.N. sanctions, but the now-disbanded U.N. Panel of Experts previously reported on the tanker illegally shuttling petroleum products to North Korea’s main port of Nampho and conducting illicit ship-to-ship transfers. The vessel, as it is not registered with the International Maritime Organization and thus lacks an IMO number.

Due to essential maintenance on the 'Lochnevis', operating on the route Mallaig-Small Isles on the evening of July 31, the scheduled sailings on Aug 1 were announced to be liable to disruption or cancelation at short notice by the operator CalMac.

A number of sanctioned North Korean oil tankers, the 'Song Won 2' (IMO: 8312497), 'An San 1' (IMO: 7303803), 'Kum Jin Gang 3' and 'Sin Phyong 9' (IMO: 8916293). have been openly transmitting AIS signals in Chinese waters in July 2025, despite U.N. resolution requiring Beijing to seize and inspect the vessels, as China and Russia were ignoring illicit DPRK activity. The latter three have also frequented an oil pier at Russia’s Vostochny Port, the DPRK tankers’ main destination for fuel runs, in the past. The vessels were underway presumably for fuel pickups. The four ships were under U.N. sanctions. A fifth vessel, the 'Chong Ryong San', was not subject to U.N. sanctions, but the now-disbanded U.N. Panel of Experts previously reported on the tanker illegally shuttling petroleum products to North Korea’s main port of Nampho and conducting illicit ship-to-ship transfers. The vessel, as it is not registered with the International Maritime Organization and thus lacks an IMO number.

The "Yalissa" was detained another time on July 24, 2025: Detained in Kocaeli with 27 deficiencies, seven of which being regarded as seriously and grounds for a detention: 1) Safety of navigation - Charts Not updated 2) Fire safety - Fire pump and its pipes Not as required 3) Fire safety - Ready availability of fire fighting equipment Not properly stowed 4) Fire safety - Fixed fire exthinguishing installation Not as required 5) Pollution Prevention - Other (Marpol Annex I) Other 6) Structural conditions - Decks - Constructions Not as required 7) Emergency systems - Emergency source of power - emergency generator Inoperative The vessel was released again on July 29 and left the port enroute to Eregli, where it arrived on July 31. The last detentions were on Jan 1 in Zonguldak with 25 deficiencies for eight days and on Dec 12,2024, also in Kocaeli with 18 deficiencies for four days. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063576908591