SINGAPORE, Feb 20 (Reuters) - An oil tanker carrying a
cargo of disputed Sudanese crude is awaiting permission to dock
at Japan's Kiire terminal because of uncertainty surrounding the
ownership of the oil, sources said on Monday.
The Ratna Shradha, which is owned by India Steamship, has
been anchored off southwest Japan since Feb. 14, sources said.
South Sudanese authorities had said the Ratna Shradha was
loaded with 600,000 barrels of oil in Sudan provided by
Khartoum-based oil producer Greater Nile Petroleum Operating
Company between January 19-20.
South Sudan claims the crude oil was seized and sold by its
neighbour and former civil war foe, Sudan. The two countries are
at loggerheads over a host of issues including transit fees,
which Khartoum is demanding from landlocked South Sudan for the
movement of its crude to the Port of Sudan.
"(The) Ratna Shradha is still drifting out at sea, waiting
to berth at Kiire. She is coming to Japan to discharge," said a
shipping industry source involved in the matter.
The docking schedule for this week did not have the Ratna
Shradha unloading, he added, indicating that the ship may only
be able to dock next week at the earliest.
India Steamship, a unit of Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals
Ltd., declined to comment.
Trafigura, the world's third largest oil trader, bought one
cargo of the Nile Blend grade crude loaded aboard the vessel,
industry sources familiar with the transaction said, and is now
in a legal dispute over ownership.
(Reporting by Randy Fabi and Luke Pachymuthu; Editing by Miral
Fahmy)
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