China is shuttling small ships to tankers at sea to transport cheap Russian oil amid sanctions, report says

China is sending small vessels out to huge tanker at sea in an effort to transport cheap Russian oil to Asia.

Chinese buyers are using risky ship-to-ship transfers to keep Russian oil out of their country, because more insurers are refusing to handle it, according to shipbrokers.

According to shipbrokers, at least one Chinese buyer is moving smaller vessels between the ports of Russia and South Korea. They said that the oil is transferred onto a massive oil tanker which will take it to China.

In May of this year, two of China's Cosco Shipping Holding smaller tanker, Yang Li Hu and Yang Mei Hu, stocked up with Russian oil ESPO in the port of Kozmino and sailed to Yeosu to transfer the cargo onto their ships.

Russian ESPO oil is usually transported in a different way. Normally, it is ferried directly to the buyer in China via small tankers.

Financial sanctions against Russia have reduced the availability of oil tanker ships. The ship-to-ship transfers allow the oil producers and buyers to deploy their fleet of vessels in a more effective manner, according to the shipbrokers. They said that it is not being done to avoid sanctions.

The process for the oil to reach the buyer takes longer and costs more according to shipbrokers.

China has been buying discounted Russian oil, which the West has been against. According to data from Vortexa, China will import 1.1 million barrels of Russian oil per day.