Determined efforts by the Greek coast guard has pushed tankers transferring sanctioned Russian oil out into the Mediterranean Sea to the eastern coast of Morocco.

Here, the oil is being transferred from smaller tankers to larger ships near the city of Nador, Bloomberg writes, citing data on ship locations.

Nador is not far from the Spanish enclave of Melilla, which, according to the news agency, may prompt Spanish authorities to once again crack down on oil transfers among the so-called shadow fleet.

In the past, the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, also close to North Africa, has been a hotspot for tankers involved in the illegal trade of Russian oil and oil products.

The sanctioned oil is transferred to very large crude carriers (VLCCs), which in most cases sail the cargo to buyer countries such as India and China.

For almost a couple of years, the West has imposed sanctions on the export of Russian oil to the EU or G7 countries alongside a price cap on the resale of Russian oil and oil products.

English edit by Kristoffer Grønbæk