A U.S.-sanctioned tanker carrying Iranian oil diverted midway through its voyage from an earlier destination of India — where it would be the first such shipment in nearly seven years — to China.
The Aframax Ping Shun tanker, built in 2002 and sanctioned by the United States in 2025, is now signaling Dongying in China as its destination instead of Vadinar in Gujarat, which it reported earlier this week, according to ship-tracking firm Kpler.
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There is no confirmation that the destination indicated by a ship’s Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponder – the tracking system mandated on most commercial vessels – is final and cannot change at any time during transit.
“Iran’s ‘Ping Shun’ crude, which has been on its way to India’s Vadinar for the last three days, has left India as its declared destination near arrival and is now signaling China,” said Sumit Ritolia, senior research analyst, refining and modeling at commodity market analyst Kpler.
The Ping Shun crude would be the first Iranian crude that India would buy since 2019. Indian refiners have been looking for opportunities to buy several cargoes of Iranian oil afloat following the recent lifting of sanctions by Washington.
Pin Shun’s change in destination appears to be related to payments, with sellers tightening terms and moving away from the former 30-60 day credit window toward upfront or near-future settlement, according to Mr Ritolio.
It was not clear who was the actual seller and buyer of the oil.
Vadinar is home to Nayara Energy-backed Russian oil giant Rosneft’s 20-million-tonne-a-year oil refinery.
“While such mid-route destination changes are not unprecedented for Iranian oil, they highlight the increasing sensitivity of trade flows to financial conditions and counterparty risk,” he said.
“If the payment issues are resolved, the cargo could still reach an Indian refinery. But this episode underscores how terms of trade are becoming as critical as logistics in determining the flow of Iranian oil to countries other than China.” India’s petroleum ministry has so far maintained that the decision to resume buying Iranian oil will be driven by technical-commercial feasibility.
Historically, India has been a major buyer of Iranian crude, importing significant volumes of Iranian light and heavy grades due to strong refinery compatibility and favorable trade terms.
Following the tightening of sanctions in 2018, imports stopped from May 2019 and volumes were replaced by West Asian, American and other species. At its peak, Iranian oil accounted for 11.5% of India’s total imports.
India bought 518,000 barrels per day of Iranian oil in 2018, which slowed to 268,000 barrels per day between January and May 2019 when the US granted an exemption to several buyers. No imports have taken place since then.
The key grades that Indian refiners have been buying are Iranian light and Iranian heavy crudes.
The US last month waived sanctions on Iranian offshore oil purchases for 30 days in its latest attempt to moderate oil prices, which have been driven up by the US-Israeli war against Iran.
This deadline expires on April 19. An estimated 95 million barrels of Iranian oil are in vessels at sea, of which about 51 million barrels could be sold to India, while the rest are more suitable for buyers in China and Southeast Asia.
The Ping Shun is estimated to be carrying about 600,000 barrels of oil, which was loaded from Kharg Island around March 4. Her declared ETA for Vadinar was April 4, according to Kpler.
While the U.S. waiver allowed countries to buy those barrels, it’s unclear how the payments will be made.
Iran remains cut off from SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication), a global messaging network used by banks and financial institutions to securely send and receive financial transaction information.
The last purchases from Iran were made in euros using a Turkish bank as an intermediary, but this option no longer exists.
Iran was disconnected from the SWIFT system in March 2012 following European Union sanctions over its nuclear program, a move that forced the disconnection of several Iranian banks and severely curtailed global financial transactions.
Further disruptions occurred in 2018 after the US reimposed sanctions, leading to a renewed suspension of several Iranian banks’ participation in the network, severely limiting Tehran’s ability to conduct international trade, receive payments for oil and access foreign currency reserves.
Published – 03 Apr 2026 13:10 IST
