Indian Shipping Company Stops Carrying Iranian Oil

President Mahmud Ahmadinejad sits in a vehicle as he visits an industrial site in Iran's Kerman Province.

India’s Mercator Lines shipping company has announced it will no longer transport Iranian oil.

Mercator’s tanker -- the "Omvati Prem" -- was the only ship with local emergency insurance available for charter by Indian refiners when sanctions from the United States and European Union were imposed on ships carrying Iranian crude oil.

India has cut back the amount of Iranian oil its buys by some 20 percent, dropping Iran from being the second- to fifth-biggest oil exporter to India.

The "Omvati Prem" was a smaller size tanker able to deliver crude to the facility of Indian refiner MRPL.

The National Iranian Oil Corp does not have ships of that size and might have to resort to partially loaded supertankers to make deliveries to India.

Based on reporting by Reuters and "The Economic Times"