Russian officials say rescue workers have successfully removed almost 1,500 tons of oil stranded onboard a tanker that ran aground in December, sparking a devastating oil spill that has damaged miles of coastline along the Black Sea.

A tanker carrying Russian crude discharged at a port operated by Shandong Port Group in east China on Thursday.

Oil tanker rates jumped as the Biden administration’s sanctions on Russia’s petroleum trade threaten to cut the supply of ships while forcing traders to seek alternative sources of crude.

A large-scale fuel oil pollution, likely caused by the sinking of Russian tankers in the Kerch Strait, has been discovered on the coast of Odesa Oblast. Source: Ivan Rusiev, a scientist and the head of the research department of the Tuzly Lagoons National Nature Park,