The price cap imposed on Russian oil by western industrialized countries is having the first undesirable consequences: Russian tankers have been piling up on the Bosporus, the passage from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, since the beginning of the week because Turkey is demanding additional insurance documents.
However, most of the ships did not load Russian oil, but primarily oil from Kazakhstan that was bottled in Russian ports.
The requirement that insurers may only cover tankers if the cargo is sold for a maximum of 60 dollars per barrel (159 litres) applies only to Russian oil.
Andreas Mihm
Business correspondent for Austria, Central and Eastern Europe and Turkey based in Vienna.
Follow I follow
Russia's government said it was "concerned about the interests of our companies."
Market participants told the FAZ that the reason was obviously a lack of clarity in dealing with chartered Russian ships.
But the problem will probably be solved soon.
Turkey announced in November that it would require additional guarantee documents for passages from December 2nd.
According to agency reports, their absence is now the reason for the backlog of around 20 tankers with 18 million barrels of oil, mainly with the destination Europe.
According to the Bloomberg agency, the US and British governments are urging Turkey to reconsider its actions.
Reuters quoted the GAC shipping agency as saying 13 ships were waiting to cross the Bosphorus southbound - all oil tankers, 10 of which would have picked up cargo at the Russian port of Novorossiysk.
According to the Tribeca shipping agency, 9 tankers were also waiting to pass further south through the Dardanelles.
Ship jams on the busy Bosphorus are not uncommon.
Last year, 38,551 ships passed through the strait, 147 more than in the previous year.
However, the last waiting time was not four days, but one.