* Tanker anchored off Japan's Kiire port since Feb 14
* Unclear who is the owner of the crude oil cargo
* Shipowner of Ratna Shradha declines comment
(Adds quotes, details)
SINGAPORE, Feb 20 (Reuters) - A ship carrying disputed
Sudanese crude is awaiting permission to dock in Japan, unable
to unload its cargo for the past week because of uncertainty
surrounding the ownership of the oil, shipping sources and
traders said on Monday.
The Ratna Shradha, which is owned by India Steamship, is
holding 600,000 barrels of crude oil that South Sudan says was
seized by neighbouring Sudan last month and which sold it at
deep discount to a North Asian trader, industry sources said.
Landlocked South Sudan needs to export its crude through
Sudan but both nations have failed to agree on a transit price,
prompting Khartoum to take some southern oil to make up for what
it says are unpaid fees.
"(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 tanker, anchored off southwest Japan since Feb. 14, was
unable to dock at the Port of Kiire because it was not clear who
the owner of the crude oil was, said an oil trader familiar with
Sudanese crude sales.
The docking schedule for this week did not have the Ratna
Shradha unloading, the shipping source 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., and the owner of the Kiire terminal, JX Nippon
Oil & Energy, both 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.
South Sudanese authorities have said the tanker was loaded
with oil in Sudan provided by oil producer Greater Nile
Petroleum Operating Company in mid-January.
Sudan has confiscated more than 6 million barrels of South
Sudan's oil since December due to the row over oil transit fees,
a South Sudanese official said last week.
(Additional reporting by Risa Maeda and Osamu Tsukimori in
Tokyo; Editing by Miral Fahmy)
There are no comments yet