According to Bloomberg, the tanker Seaviolet carrying one million barrels of Azerbaijani oil is currently en route to the Israeli port of Eilat. As Israel’s primary oil dock in Ashkelon was destroyed during a recent attack by HAMAS militants, the port of Eilat on the Red Sea is being used for oil shipments. Bloomberg notes that this shows that despite the war with HAMAS, Israel can continue uninterrupted oil imports.
It is reported that the 900-foot Seaviolet tanker was loaded with over a million barrels of Azeri Light Azerbaijani oil from the Ceyhan terminal in Turkey. Officially, the tanker is heading for the port of Aqaba in Jordan, but several traders have confirmed to Bloomberg that the cargo, purchased by the Israeli oil refinery Paz Oil, will actually be delivered to the port of Eilat, located just six kilometers from Aqaba.
According to the analytical company Kpler, Israel has not used Eilat for oil imports for several years. It is known that the EAPC company is laying a 163-mile pipeline from Eilat to Ashkelon, from where crude oil will be delivered to a nearby refinery in Ashdod.
The British P&I Club, an international insurer of merchant ships against risks, including oil spills, stated on Wednesday, citing local correspondents, that the oil dock in Ashkelon is “under constant rocket fire.”
“While Ashkelon is officially open,” said P&I, “in practice it is almost closed, and ships must coordinate their entry into the port with the Israeli Navy.”
It should be noted that officials from several OPEC member countries have stated that they are not ready to join Iran’s call to impose an oil embargo against Israel.
However, according to analysts, the cartel’s capabilities in this direction are very limited in any case. Moreover, US officials have repeatedly expressed their readiness to fully meet Israel’s oil demand.
