FILE PHOTO: Crude oil tanker Odessa, carrying UAE crude after passing through the Strait of Hormuz with its Automatic Identification System transponder turned off, navigates the waters at Daesan port, where it is expected to discharge crude oil, in Seosan, South Korea, May 8, 2026. REUTERS/Kim Soo-hyeon/File Photo
(Bloomberg) –The largest Russian oil port in the Black Sea resumed crude loadings after several days of disruption, during a period of bad weather and increased drone attacks in the nearby area.
The Suez Ice Supreme, a Suezmax-class vessel, departed the Sheskharis oil terminal in Novorossiysk on Sunday, shipping data compiled by Bloomberg show. Vessel tracking data compiled by Bloomberg also suggest it departed over the weekend.
Russia’s oil-pipeline operator Transneft PJSC, which owns the terminal, and Universal Tanker Management, the ship manager, didn’t immediately respond to Bloomberg requests for comment.
Sheskharis, which shipped an average of 650,000 barrels a day so far this year, paused loading on Tuesday. It did so as Ukraine ramped up drone strikes on vessels in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. There was also a storm warning during part of the period when loadings paused.
Last week, the surge of attacks led to a halt in operations at the nearby terminal of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, a key route for Kazakh crude exports, and forced the nation’s producers to cut output. The CPC terminal resumed loading on Monday, according to Kazakhstan’s energy ministry.
Stable crude flows from the Novorossiysk port would further ease pressure on the global market, which has already got some relief as the US paused daily strikes against Iran.
© 2026 Bloomberg L.P.
This article contains reporting from Bloomberg, published under license.
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