Terminal operators in a major oil port in east China's Shandong province are set to introduce measures to ban "shadow fleet" vessels and curb visits by other old tankers, according to an official notice seen by Reuters and a tanker tracker.
The measures, to take effect from November 1, would ban vessels using fake International Maritime Organisation numbers and ships of 31 years or older, which traders said would target what is known as the “shadow fleet” that transports oil under Western sanctions.
Four terminal operators at Huangdao Port last week issued the notice, seen by Reuters, a month after the United States designated an oil terminal in nearby Dongjiakou port as receiving Iranian oil carried by vessels under sanctions.
Both Huangdao and Dongjiakou are in the broader Qingdao port area, the largest Chinese entry point for Iranian oil. China, Iran's biggest oil client, has repeatedly defended its oil transactions with Iran and opposed unilateral Western sanctions.
Qingdao Shihua did not immediately comment, and calls to the other three companies involved were not answered.
"The new tanker risk-rating rules appear to be a precautionary step driven by environmental concerns and rising US sanctions pressure, even though the latter is not explicitly mentioned in the notice," said Emma Li, China analyst with tanker tracker Vortexa Analytics.
However, the impact is likely to be limited because Huangdao has only a minor role in handling high-risk tankers compared with other Shandong ports, Li added.
Vessels holding invalid or expired certificates from various international agencies will be banned from calling and those with a record of pollution or accident in the previous three years will also be barred, according to the document reviewed by Reuters.
The terminal operators are also introducing a scoring system that rates vessels' level of risk: the older the vessel, the lower the score. With a full mark at 100, vessels rated below 55 are considered high risk and will be barred from anchoring.
The scoring system also takes into account a ship's classification society and pollution liability cover, the document shows.
The terminal operators are Qingdao Haiye Oil Terminal, Qingdao Shihua Crude Oil Terminal, Qingdao Gangxin Oil Products and Qingdao Lixing Logistics.
(Additional reporting by lleen Howe in Beijing; editing by Barbara Lewis)
