Ukraine Takes One of Russia's Largest Oil Terminals Offline
The Ukrainian strike on the port of Novorossiysk, Russia has damaged oil loading berths and taken about two percent of the global oil trade temporarily offline, according to multiple reports. Inside sources claim that a moored tanker was hit in the attack as well, injuring three seafarers, Reuters reports.
The strike has forced the Sheskharis export terminal to shut down, and has prompted midstream operator Transneft to temporarily halt crude deliveries on the pipeline that feeds the facility, sources told Reuters. Video taken by a crewmember on a vessel at the port's container terminal shows that one STS crane was also hit by an incoming drone.
Battle damage assessment imagery is still pending on open source channels, but infrared fire detection data from NASA FIRMS suggests that the large fires that broke out during the strike have likely been extinguished.
Brent crude futures ticked upwards on news of the strike, rising two percent to close at $64, within the trading range for the past 30 days.
Ukrainian officials confirmed to Kyiv Post that the country's military intelligence services were responsible for the attack, with involvement by the SBU, HUR, Special Operations, Border Guards and Ukrainian Navy shore battery teams. Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles (the extended-range "long Neptune" configuration) were used in the attack.
In addition to hits on the terminal, the strike destroyed pipelines, pumping stations, and the city's air defense battery. Open-source intelligence analysts have suggested that air defense missile launchers were hit, based on the size and location of one of the blasts captured in bystander videos. The elimination of the battery would have opened up the harbor to successive waves of incoming Ukrainian cruise missiles.
Analyst MT Anderson has identified the air defense system as a high-end S-400 battery with seven launchers. It had only recently been upgraded from an S-300 battery.
"Every oil refinery or oil terminal that is hit means millions of dollars less for the Kremlin’s war machine. We will continue to deprive the aggressor of resources until it loses the ability to wage this war," an SBU source told Kyiv Post.
Two industry sources informed Reuters that the tanker Arlan (IMO 9227443) was hit in the strike, resulting in the injury of three crewmembers. Arlan is a 23-year-old tanker of 165,000 dwt, and is sanctioned by the UK and EU for its role in the Russian oil trade. It is also suspected of violating sanctions on Iran, according to advocacy group UANI. It is currently flagged in Sierra Leone.
AIS data provided by Pole Star shows that Arlan transited the Bosporus on November 8 and headed for Novorossiysk, arriving off the port on the following evening. Heavy AIS spoofing in and around the port city makes her subsequent movements impossible to verify without satellite imaging.