Several oil and LNG supertankers have broken through the blocked Strait of Hormuz
Kyiv • UNN
Fuel vessels are heading to China and Pakistan after being idled due to the war with Iran. Hundreds of ships and sailors remain blocked in the region.
Two liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers are leaving the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, heading for Pakistan and China, while a supertanker carrying Iraqi oil for China left the Persian Gulf on Saturday after a nearly three-month standstill, shipping data showed, Reuters reports, according to UNN.
Details
The war of the United States and Israel against Iran, which began on February 28, has severely restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world's oil and LNG supplies usually pass.
These vessels are among several supertankers leaving the Persian Gulf this month via a transit route that Iran has ordered vessels to use. Last week, three very large crude carriers (VLCCs) headed for China and South Korea with 6 million barrels of oil.
The LNG tanker "Fuwairit" is crossing the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and is expected to offload its cargo in Pakistan on Tuesday, according to shipping data from LSEG and Kpler. The Bahamas-flagged vessel loaded LNG at Qatar's Ras Laffan port around March 28. The publication was unable to reach the Japanese company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), which owns the "Fuwairit," for comment.
The LNG tanker "Al Rayyan" also left the strait. Carrying a cargo loaded at Ras Laffan, it was last seen in the Persian Gulf on May 22 and is now outside the strait between Iran and Oman. According to LSEG and Kpler, the cargo is expected to be offloaded in China on June 27. QatarEnergy, which owns the vessel "Al Rayyan," did not respond to a request for comment outside of business hours.
Separately, according to LSEG and Kpler, the VLCC tanker "Eagle Verona," which exited the strait on Saturday, is scheduled to arrive at the port of Ningbo in eastern China on June 12 to offload its cargo.
According to LSEG and Kpler, the Singapore-flagged vessel, chartered by Unipec, the trading arm of Asia's largest refiner Sinopec, loaded nearly 2 million barrels of Basrah oil around February 26.
As two sources previously told Reuters, the "Eagle Verona" was one of seven vessels for which Malaysia requested transit permission from Iran. Five of these vessels have already left the strait, while two others remain in the Persian Gulf.
Sinopec and the Malaysian state shipping company MISC, which owns the vessel, could not be reached for comment.
Before the war began, shipping through the strait averaged between 125 and 140 voyages per day. About 20,000 sailors still remain stranded in the Persian Gulf aboard hundreds of vessels.