Norwegian diesel for Russian ships? That was common practice until just a few weeks ago. The ships in need for fuel did not sail to Norwegian ports such as Longyearbyen, but the floating fuel stations came to them, at sea – in shape of bunker vessels on the Barents Sea, both on the Norwegian and on the Russian side of the maritime border, according to AIS data of Norwegian bunker ships.
This attracted a lot of public attention when it became public in November, with a wide agreement that this practice is unwanted seen in the light of the Russian war against the Ukraine. Major suppliers on the Norwegian market quickly distanced themselves from this trade and confirmed not to deliver to Russian customers, but could not guarantee this for smaller in-between distributors.
Fishing ships prefer to get supplies near the fishing grounds, rather than sailing to a distant ports. This image shows two Russian ships exchanging fish and goods in Bellsund.
In early December, the Norwegian ministry of foreign affairs confirmed that it is forbidden for Norwegian ships to supply Russian ships at sea with fuel, as Svalbardposten wrote. This includes international and Russian waters. To fulfill old contracts, deliveries were under certain conditions legal until early March 2023 but not anymore later. Since then, Russian ships can only buy Norwegian fuel for their own use in certain Norwegian ports (Longyearbyen, Båtsfjord, Kirkenes and Tromsø). This is hardly attractive for most fishing ships as they don’t want to leave their operating areas.
Any delivery at sea by Norwegian ships to Russian customers is, in other words, illegal since March. Suppliers who nevertheless delivered diesel between March and November appear to have been unaware or confused about the legal situation.