Puerto Vallarta (PVDN) – A cargo ship from Russia docked on Thursday in the Port of Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico, raising questions about its content.
An international consulting firm has been assuring for weeks that the ship was transporting diesel, while the port authorities have indicated that the vessel contains fertilizers. The Russian fuel supply would put Mexico in the crosshairs of various countries —among them the United States— that have sanctioned hydrocarbon exports from Russia, due to that country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Argus consultancy, an organization that produces international market analysis, mentioned in a report that the Loukas I was heading to Mexico loaded with 145,400 barrels of diesel of Russian origin. The agency explained that the ship, which left from Novorossiysk, Russia, would be the first of several fuel shipments brought to the Mexican market.
“The Government of Mexico, through its state company Petróleos Mexicanos, aims to contain increases in gasoline and diesel prices below the inflation line (…) A cheaper fuel supply from Russia could alleviate the pressure on Mexican finances”, says the consultant in a report that has generated a lot of attention.
Guaymas port management has denied that the ship’s cargo is Russian diesel. Guillermo Von Borstel, commercial director of the Guaymas Integral Port Administration (Asipona Guaymas), has assured that the ship transports NPK liquid fertilizers (Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K)), and that if the Mexican authorities do not inform the port about any embargo or restriction, it will allow the unloading of the ship in Sonora.
“The Loukas I in its cargo request mentions that it transports liquid fertilizer, and this type of product is normally handled in this port. There is a specialized station of a North American company that distributes this urea and UAN 32 fertilizers to the north of Sinaloa, Sonora, Baja California, and Arizona,” explained Von Borstel.
“I don’t know where in the ocean the ship loaded fuel, but it would only be the marine fuel to operate the vessel. There is a terminal specialized in hydrocarbons operated by Pemex [in this port], but they did not receive it. The last few years the fuel tankers have been received by Pemex”, he added. The merchant ship Loukas I is 184 meters long, and 32 meters wide with a draft of 10.4 meters, and has the Cyprus flag.
Last summer, the G7 countries – made up of the US, Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Canada, and Japan – decided to apply a ceiling to the prices of Russian crude, and they in turn requested that the measure be supported by a broad coalition of nations, as a new economic blow to Moscow. The intention was to limit Russia’s economic ability to finance the war in Ukraine.
“We seek to establish a broad coalition to maximize its effectiveness and urge all countries still seeking to import Russian oil to commit to doing so at or below the limit prices,” the group of seven countries announced in September.
The receipt of Russian fuels in Mexico could lead to a commercial and diplomatic conflict for the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, mainly with the United States, its largest commercial partner.
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