US port ban on Russian-affiliated ships seen as largely symbolic

US President Joe Biden announced April 21 that US ports would ban all Russian-affiliated ships, a move seen as largely symbolic as the port calls are rare and the US has already zeroed out its imports of Russian oil.

The UK and Canada previously blocked access to their ports by Russian-affiliated ships, and the EU has proposed a similar measure in response to the war in Ukraine.

Biden said he was taking the step alongside allies to "further deny Russia the benefits of the international economic system."

"That means no ship—no ship that sails under the Russian flag or that is owned or operated by Russian interests will be allowed to dock in a United States port or access our shores," Biden said.

Russian shipowner Sovcomflot owns and operates 133 tankers, including 50 Aframax 17 Suezmaxes and two VLCCs. In the Americas, the Aframaxes have tended to be primarily employed on the US Gulf Coast-Transatlantic runs, as major oil companies transported light sweet US crude barrels to their Europe refining outlets.

Currently none of the Sovcomflot-operated tankers are positioned in or heading toward the USGC, according to Platts cFlow trade-flow analytics software.

"It already has impacted the Aframax shipping markets in the Americas," a shipowner said, commenting on the impact of President Biden's announcement that US ports would ban all Russian-affiliated ships. "Everybody has been dumping their time charters back in March. Sovcomflot vessels floated in the Gulf for two weeks initially when US sanctions on the import of Russian oil were announced in early March."

A Russian-flagged crude oil tanker was seized in Greek waters April 15, according to Greece's maritime ministry.

The Pegas has spent about a week off the Greek port of Karystos and its last port was Martas, Turkey, according to Platts cFlow trade-flow analytics software.

The US Treasury Department Feb. 22 listed the Pegas among five Russian commercial vessels designated as blocked entities. They cannot access the US financial system, and US persons are banned from dealing with them.

April 22 marks the end of the 45-day wind-down period for Biden's executive order banning US imports of Russian oil, natural gas, and coal.

US imports of Russian crude zeroed out for the three weeks to April 15, according to the latest Energy Information Administration data. January-March imports averaged 54,800 b/d, down sharply from 2021 imports of 199,000 b/d, according to EIA data.