Sanctioned Oil Tanker ‘Spartan’ Poised to Dock at Adani’s Mundra Port in Gujarat

Mundra, Gujarat September 15, 2025,’A Suezmax crude carrier named Spartan, blacklisted by UK and EU authorities, is hovering off India’s western coast near Mundra, the country’s busiest private port operated by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ). Shipping data show the vessel is carrying roughly 1 million barrels of Urals crude—and sitting near an offshore discharge point that services HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL)—placing India’s Russian-oil calculus and Adani’s newly tightened compliance policy on a collision course.

Spartan’s approach comes days after Adani Ports directed all terminals to deny entry to Western-sanctioned vessels, a sweeping measure announced between September 11–13 that aligns the private operator with evolving international sanctions enforcement. The order bars ships designated by the EU, UK, or US from entry, berthing, or port services at any of Adani’s 14 ports, including Mundra.

A high-stakes test of a new red line

The policy shift is significant: India has emerged as the largest buyer of Russian seaborne crude since 2022, with a sizable share moved on opaque or “shadow fleet” tankers increasingly entangled in secondary sanctions, price-cap compliance, and insurance restrictions. By publicly barring sanctioned hulls, Adani raises the bar for vessel vetting in India—potentially re-routing some cargoes and complicating logistics for refiners that rely on Mundra’s infrastructure.

But Spartan appears to be a liminal case. Multiple reports indicate the ship—blacklisted by EU/UK—was already underway to Mundra before Adani’s circular took effect, and it has now reached waters off the port. Local coverage characterizes it as “among the last” sanctioned vessels poised to unload after the ban, a detail that highlights the practical challenge of implementing a policy in an industry where voyages are planned weeks ahead.

What we know about the vessel and the cargo

Public AIS and vessel-database records identify SPARTAN (IMO 9421972) as a 2010-built crude oil tanker sailing under the flag of Oman, with an ETA to Mundra around mid-September. Bloomberg and domestic outlets report the cargo is Urals crude—Russia’s main export grade—and estimate the parcel size at ~1 million barrels, typical for a Suezmax delivery. Positioning near an offshore discharge point suggests a likely ship-to-shore pipeline or lightering interface used for HMEL’s Bathinda refinery, which has historically sourced crude through Mundra.

Mundra’s centrality—and why HMEL matters

Mundra is a strategic hub on India’s west coast, with connectivity that makes it a preferred gateway for North Indian refineries. HMEL’s 226,000 bpd Bathinda plant in Punjab has been repeatedly linked with Mundra logistics in recent months—particularly for Russian crude flows redirected amid sanction volatility. In July, for instance, shipping data showed a Urals cargo diverted from Nayara’s Vadinar to Mundra, reportedly for HMEL, after fresh EU actions complicated loadings and discharges at some Indian terminals.

If Spartan discharges at or off Mundra for HMEL, the operation would underscore the refiner’s continuing appetite for discounted Russian grades, while also exposing the tightrope Indian buyers and port operators walk: maintaining energy security and price advantages without triggering sanctions exposure or insurance-and-finance disruptions that can ripple across supply chains.

Adani’s compliance pivot: what changed last week

According to Reuters and corroborating trade press, APSEZ conveyed internal directives banning all Western-sanctioned vessels at its network, compelling vessel agents to furnish written confirmations that nominated ships are not sanctioned. The move likely reflects both heightened regulatory risk and the practical reality that sanctions implementation has sharpened across the EU/UK/US regimes, putting pressure on port authorities, pilots, terminals, insurers, and financiers. Industry titles—from Lloyd’s List to TradeWinds, Splash, and Safety4Sea—reported the same overarching policy.

The timing, though, is crucial. Reports today emphasize that Spartan was already inbound when the ban became public, raising questions about grandfathering of nominations submitted before the cutoff or whether the discharge might occur in a way that keeps the ship itself outside formal port limits (e.g., via offshore mooring or lightering) while still delivering crude into Mundra-linked infrastructure. Local news coverage explicitly frames this as a transition case following Adani’s ban.

Legal, insurance, and operational risk vectors

Sanctions: If a vessel is designated by UK/EU authorities, entities facilitating its port call can face exposure unless a carve-out or licence applies. APSEZ’s ban limits the port operator’s direct risk, but charterers, receivers, and banks still perform their own checks on ownership/management chains, voyage history, and transfers. Spartan’s presence tests these controls in real time.

Insurance: Many sanctioned or high-risk tankers lack access to International Group (IG) P&I cover, turning instead to alternative insurers with uneven claims records. Ports, pilots, and local authorities therefore scrutinize letters of undertaking, certificates of financial responsibility, and spill response arrangements more closely when such hulls appear near sensitive terminals. Adani’s blanket prohibition simplifies that decision tree—in theory.

Operations: Even without berthing, offshore discharge through a single-point mooring (SPM) connected by subsea pipelines can bring crude ashore without the ship entering the port basin. This can be legitimate and routine—but when a hull is sanctioned, jurisdictional lines (port limits vs. customs waters vs. territorial sea) matter. Clarity on where Spartan’s molecules change hands—and under whose operational control—will indicate how APSEZ’s policy is being parsed on the water.

India’s Russian-oil equation isn’t going away

India’s refiners have leaned into Russian barrels due to deep discounts versus Middle Eastern grades. That arbitrage has underpinned fuel inflation management, refinery margins, and export competitiveness in diesel and gasoline. A hard stop on sanctioned vessels risks tightening prompt supply and raising landed costs, especially for north-bound logistics routed through Mundra. That’s why market watchers see APSEZ’s ban not as a halt to Russian oil, but as an enforcement screen that pushes Russian flows onto non-designated tonnage with cleaner paperwork—or redirects some volumes to non-Adani ports

Trade publications already suggest that sanction-clean substitutes will shoulder more of the flow into Adani terminals, while sanctioned hulls gravitate to other Indian ports willing to accept them under national law, or to STS (ship-to-ship) hubs outside port limits before final delivery. For receivers like HMEL, the calculus becomes a three-way optimization between price, timing, and compliance risk.

What happens next for Spartan?

There are four plausible paths from here, each with different market and legal implications:

1. Offshore discharge to Mundra-linked infrastructure
   Spartan could offload at an SPM outside the inner harbor, enabling crude to reach shore facilities without a formal port call. This would likely hinge on how APSEZ defines “access to port services” in its ban, and on the nominated agent’s attestations.
2. Voyage diversion to another Indian port
   If execution risk rises, the charterer/receiver could divert to a non-Adani port that permits sanctioned vessels, mirroring July’s diversion episode where a Russian cargo altered plans amid EU sanctions adjustments. Diversions add days of delay and freight cost, but may prove safer for stakeholders.
3. STS (ship-to-ship) transfer to a non-sanctioned hull
   A classic workaround: transfer the cargo to a clean vessel in designated STS zones, then approach Mundra or another port. This raises traceability and price-cap compliance questions and must be executed within India’s maritime regulatory framework. (Authorities globally have escalated scrutiny of opaque STS chains since 2023.)
4. Return or resale
   Least likely given sunk costs, but not impossible if insurance, financing, or regulatory constraints harden unexpectedly.

As of this writing, Indian outlets report Spartan “has arrived just off Mundra”, while global wires emphasize Adani’s policy prohibits berthing for sanctioned ships. The juxtaposition spotlights a narrow window in which nominations, timing of the circular, and the exact mode of discharge will determine whether the cargo lands through Mundra-associated infrastructure or is re-routed.

The bigger picture: ports as frontline compliance nodes

For most of the sanctions era, attention focused on traders, refiners, banks, and insurers. In 2024–25, the front line shifted visibly to ports and terminals, where berth access, bunker provisioning, pilotage, and tug services create practical chokepoints. By codifying a no-sanctioned-vessels rule, APSEZ joins a growing list of port authorities worldwide that act as gatekeepers—even when domestic law does not mandate a blanket ban. This institutionalizes risk management and reduces the chance of a port’s brand being associated with a high-profile breach.

The move could also standardize due diligence across port agents and terminal operators, including KYC on beneficial ownership, flag-hopping histories, AIS gaps, and class/insurance verifications. That, in turn, may nudge charterers toward younger, better-insured tonnage to secure predictable discharge windows—especially at Mundra, where throughput and schedule integrity are prized.

Market impact: near-term noise, medium-term adaptation

In the near term, Spartan’s saga may tighten prompt barrels for buyers counting on Mundra discharges, lifting physical premiums or freight rates for compliant vessels. Price discovery could be choppy this week as cargo-owners, shipowners, and receivers re-paper nominations and shuffle lineups. In the medium term, however, markets tend to adapt quickly: non-designated fleets will capture more Russian-origin volumes destined for India; routing will adjust; STS hubs will grow busier; and compliance desks will get louder seats at the voyage-planning table.

Key sources for this report

• Bloomberg: Spartan near Mundra, ~1 million barrels of Urals, offshore discharge point for HMEL.
• Business Standard / NewsBytes: Spartan, blacklisted by EU/UK, has arrived off Mundra; framed as a late arrival post-ban.
• Reuters and others: Adani Ports’ policy to deny access to sanctioned vessels across all ports (Sept 11–13).
• VesselFinder: Spartan vessel particulars and Mundra ETA context.