No, this oil tanker didn’t carry Russian diesel to the United States

US President Donald Trump announced on Friday, October 9, that he had reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to import millions of tons of Russian diesel.

“Russia will immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace, another 500,000 Tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 Tons immediately thereafter. Additionally, based on the condition of their Diesel Refineries, Russia will then deliver, within a short period of time, 3,000,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel,” Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social.

The next day, the pro-Russian X account Russian Market (which uses the handle @runews) posted that Russian diesel was already being delivered to the United States, scarcely a day after the deal. 

The account claimed that the Minerva Zen, an oil and chemical tanker, was carrying close to 280,000 barrels of diesel from Russia… and was bound for the United States. The post even featured a map of the route it was taking, starting with when the cargo was supposedly loaded on September 22 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. 

The fake news spread quickly, appearing in different posts and garnering more than 570,000 views on X. It was also picked up by media outlets in Nigeria.

A ship carrying fertiliser, according to Tanker Trackers

This claim, however, is wrong. The Minerva Zen was not carrying diesel from Russia. 

It is true that the Minerva Zen, an oil and chemical tanker (which means it is equipped to carry chemical products as well as petrol products), did leave the port in Saint Petersburg on September 23. You can see this on the site Global Fishing Watch, a site that makes it possible to follow marine traffic. 

MarineTraffic, another site that tracks ships across the globe, shows that the Minerva Zen docked in Wilmington, North Carolina on the night of October 11 to 12.  

The FRANCE 24 Observers team spoke to Tankertrackers.com, a company specialised in tracking oil tankers in particular, who said that the Minerva Zen wasn’t carrying diesel but fertiliser, specifically urea ammonium nitrate (UAN). This information was confirmed by the economic intelligence company Vortexa. 

“When the US imposed sanctions on Russia back in February/March 2022, they banned the import of hydrocarbons such as crude oil, fuel oil, LNG, etc., but they allowed fertiliser,” Tanker Trackers said. 

As you can see on a site that records imports, Russian fertiliser was also imported into Wilmington back in June. The June cargo was delivered to a company called Eurochem North America, which specialises in fertiliser production. According to Tankertrackers, the October 12 delivery was also bound for Eurochem North America.

Cargo not unloaded in the port’s petrol terminal 

Another supporting the information that the Minerva Zen was not carrying diesel is that the tanker was not unloaded in the port’s "Apex Oil Co Wilmington" petrol terminal, which is located to the south of Wilmington port.

According to the data gathered by MarineTraffic, the tanker was unloaded in the “NSCPA” Terminal located to the north of the port. This terminal is where agricultural and chemical products as well as containers are unloaded.

Finally, Minerva Marine, the company that owns the Minerva Zen, told US local TV station Wwaytv3 that the tanker was carrying urea ammonium nitrate, not diesel. 

This article has been translated from the original in French by Brenna Daldorph.