While most Russian crude is now heading to China, India and Turkey in Russian or non-western ships, G7 sanctions have led to a shortage of smaller ice-class tankers - many belonging to Greek and Norwegian companies - needed by Russia to transport its crude from Baltic Sea ports in winter.China, the world’s top oil importer, has continued buying Russian oil despite Western sanctions, after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping launched what they called a no-limit partnership before the war in Ukraine.As the United States and its allies tried to choke off Moscow’s energy revenues to limit its ability to fund the Ukraine war, Russia quickly diverted oil exports from Europe last year, mainly to Asia.The executive with the Chinese firm involved in the shipments estimated a total of 18 Chinese supertankers and another 16 Aframax-sized vessels could be used for shipping Russian crude in 2023, enough to transport 15 million tons a year or about 10 percent of total Urals exports.“It’s extremely expensive and doesn’t make sense to use ice-class tankers for long distances,” one European market trader said, explaining why VLCCs were being used."