Tribunnews journalist, Nur Febriana Trinugraheni

TRIBUNNEWS.COM, HOUSTON – Two tankers operated by Russia’s largest shipping company Sovcomflot have been diverted from their original destinations to Canada.

Meanwhile, a third ship is said to have returned to Russia due to Russian sanctions after invading Ukraine.

The United Kingdom and Canada prohibit vessels flagged, operated or owned by Russia from docking in their ports. In the meantime, the Sovcomflot company has been blacklisted in the United States.

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The two Russian tankers changed course after Canada stepped up pressure on Russia, closing their ports and barring Russian vessels from entering Canadian territorial waters.

The Liberian-flagged tanker SCF Neva is believed to have changed course from Canada on Thursday (3/3/2022) and is currently heading for Bahamian waters.

The vessel was carrying bunker fuel for Canadian oil and gas company Irving Oil.

Irving Oil, owner of the City of Saint John refinery, has confirmed that SCF Neva is due to arrive at the refinery.

Irving Oil spokeswoman Katherine d’Entremont said the ship was hijacked because of its Russian affiliation.

“The ship was not carrying products from Russia, but because of its Russian subsidiary it was transferred by our supplier,” said Katherine d’Entremont.

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Katherine d’Entremont added that Irving Oil’s operations and customer supply will not be disrupted and will continue to operate as normal.

The second vessel, the SCF Ussuri, a tanker chartered by Canadian energy company Suncor Energy, is believed to be near St. Bay. Lawrence, Canada after suspending their original route to Montreal, Canada. The ship is due to arrive in Montreal on March 1.

The third tanker SCF Yenisei, meanwhile, changed destination on Thursday to return to the Russian port of Vanino after releasing the product they transported earlier this month to the port of Anacortes on the west coast of the States -United.

Russian-flagged vessels actually represent a very small percentage of US traffic, but a ban on Russian cargo passing through the US is expected to have a much greater impact.