The tanker Agioi Fanendes, carrying about 40,000 tons of Russian diesel, has been zigzagging some 400 nautical miles off New York since 9 November after turning away from the US coast, Bloomberg reported. By 10 November it had come to a halt, Reuters reported. Its Greek manager, Eastmed, told Reuters the ship was “still awaiting orders.”

The tanker left Russia in late October under the diesel deal that Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin struck on 9 October. Unlike Talisman and Leruo, the first two tankers to turn away, it is not sanctioned, tracker Windward noted. Yet Vortexa analyst Ellie Valencia told Reuters that its slowdown most likely means it “doesn’t yet have a specific buyer.” On 10 November, Energy Secretary Chris Wright was asked whether that worried him. “Not at all,” he said, adding that the cargo would “go to another port.” The deal was sold as relief at the pump, yet a month later no Russian diesel has reached the US, according to tracking data cited by Bloomberg.

Warnings before the halt

The ship had been due in New York on 7 November, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters. Earlier, on 27 October, Senator Richard Blumenthal demanded that its owner recall it. New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill argued that the administration could not override the 2022 ban on Russian energy imports, AP reported. The Treasury, however, told AP that its license complies with all applicable laws.

“It’s clear there’s hesitancy here in bringing these barrels onshore just because of the implications of doing so,” Kpler analyst Matt Smith told AP.

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By Euromaidan Press’s tracking, the Agioi Fanendes is the sixth tanker to turn away from the US. Two of the earlier five, Hanna and Manta, were on a Ukrainian monitor’s list of tankers that could be US-bound.

Moscow insists, supply may shrink

On 5 November, Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev claimed on X that reports of diversions were “fake” and that “tankers destined for the US continue on course.”

Meanwhile, Bloomberg counts six Russian refineries attacked since early November. On 30 October, Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak claimed that such attacks could push diesel exports below the 2.1 million tons planned for November, though only slightly, Interfax reported.