Photo: Izvestia
The tanker Minerva Zen, which was expected to deliver the first shipment of Russian diesel to the United States, arrived at a port near Wilmington, North Carolina, carrying liquid fertilizer instead, according to maritime monitoring service TankerTrackers.
The cargo was identified as liquid urea-ammonium nitrate (UAN), a mixture used to fertilize crops. MarineTraffic data confirmed the vessel’s arrival. The shipment was imported by EuroChem North America.
The fertilizer cargo is permitted under U.S. regulations because the ban on Russian hydrocarbon imports introduced in March 2022 does not apply to it. Live-AIS, a platform that had previously reported that the tanker was carrying diesel, deleted its earlier post.
On October 9, U.S. President Donald Trump said Russia had agreed to supply diesel to the American and global markets in an effort to lower fuel prices. The U.S. Treasury Department subsequently issued General License 135, authorizing transactions involving the sale, delivery, unloading and import of Russian-origin diesel until April 7, 2027.
Trump said Russia would initially supply more than 300,000 metric tons of diesel, followed by another 500,000 tons in November and a further 1 million tons afterward. However, the actual timing and volume of deliveries remain uncertain.
According to the Financial Times, even if Russia exports 500,000 tons of diesel in November, that would represent less than 4% of global demand. Eurasia Group analyst Gregory Brew estimated that the initially announced shipments would amount to less than 2% of U.S. diesel production.
Russia had previously imposed a diesel export ban amid domestic fuel shortages and damage to its refineries. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said the country had begun importing fuel, despite previously exporting around 35–40% of its diesel production.
The arrival of Minerva Zen with fertilizer rather than diesel therefore does not confirm that the newly announced Russian diesel shipments to the United States have begun.
