US senator demands tanker carrying Russian diesel turn back, calls shipment illegal
US Senator Richard Blumenthal has called on the owner of a tanker carrying nearly 40,000 metric tons of Russian diesel toward the United States to reverse course, arguing that unloading the cargo would violate US law despite a temporary authorization issued by the Trump administration.
In an October 27 letter to Athanasios Martinos, managing director of Eastern Mediterranean Maritime Limited, Blumenthal warned that the Malta-flagged Agioi Fanendes was reportedly heading to the Port of New York and New Jersey after departing Russia on October 22.
The vessel is expected to arrive on November 7.
"Should the Agioi Fanendes port and discharge its cargo, you would be engaged in an illegal transaction or aiding and abetting it," Blumenthal wrote.
The senator cited a 2022 US law prohibiting imports of Russian oil and petroleum products, including diesel.
He acknowledged that the US Treasury Department had issued General License No. 135 authorizing transactions involving Russian diesel exports but argued that an executive authorization could not override a statutory prohibition.
"The President may have given a license to facilitate this transaction, but only Congress can make it legally valid," he wrote.
Blumenthal demanded that the shipping company recall the vessel and refrain from future transactions involving Russian diesel.
He also asked the company to respond by October 31, identifying other entities involved in the shipment and disclosing whether it had received instructions from the Treasury Department or another US federal agency.
The dispute follows President Donald Trump's October announcement of an arrangement with Russia to facilitate diesel supplies, accompanied by a temporary Treasury authorization.
Blumenthal's letter challenges the legality of importing the fuel into the United States. It does not establish that a court or US enforcement agency has found the shipment unlawful.