“Shadow Fleet Shipping Oil to Brunei Through the Arctic Ocean”

Russia will supply Brunei with oil via the Northern Sea Route (NSR) for the first time in September, two industry sources told Reuters.

Until now, oil via the NSR has only been shipped to China, due to the country’s proximity to Russia’s Far East.

Brunei has been a regular buyer of Russian oil in recent years as Moscow looks for new customers following the imposition of Western sanctions in 2022. In 2023, Brunei imported $15.6 million worth of Russian crude, including its first shipment of Urals crude to Hengyi Industries’ Pulau Muara Besar refinery.

The NSR, which is navigable in summer and autumn, connects Russia’s western ports with Asia via the Arctic, cutting delivery times by about 10 days compared to the Suez Canal route. More than 12 million barrels of oil were shipped to China via the NSR last year.

Reuters sources said the Gessi Maritime Corp (6466149 / Seychelles / 01.02.2024) IMO 9321706 Latur tanker has already passed through the Northern Sea Route and is heading to the port of Muara in Brunei with Arctic oil from Gazprom Neft, loaded in Murmansk.

The vessel is owned by Gessi Marine, a Seychelles-registered company that was included in the US Treasury sanctions list in January 2025, and flies the Comoros flag, they said.

Russia is expected to increase crude shipments via the NSR this year, although high costs and the need to obtain permission from the state corporation Rosatom continue to limit widespread use of the route.

According to LSEG, about 4 million barrels of Russian crude, including Urals and Arctic oil, are currently en route to Chinese ports via the NSR. The route is usually open until November.

Rosatom, in response to a Reuters request for comment, said it “issues permits for shipping, icebreaker support, develops safe routes for ships in the NSR waters and provides nuclear icebreaker fleet services,” but did not provide information about the ships operating on the route.

Gazprom Neft, Hengyi Industries and Brunei’s energy ministry did not respond to requests for comment.