Charterers are paying three times as much to ship Russian crude from Kozmino to China following US sanctions on 183 more ships last week.
Traders told Bloomberg that Chinese importers are fixing tankers for between $5m and $5.5m for a short trip that used to cost $1.5m.
These rates are expected to rise even further as buyers source more mainstream ships for Espo crude cargoes from the east coast port.
