SINGAPORE, June 22 (Reuters) – Oil and LNG tankers are moving again through the Strait of Hormuz, showing a gradual return to normal traffic. This comes after Iran announced it had closed the waterway over the weekend,...
SINGAPORE, June 22 (Reuters) – Oil and LNG tankers are moving again through the Strait of Hormuz, showing a gradual return to normal traffic. This comes after Iran announced it had closed the waterway over the weekend, according to shipping data.
Last week, Iran ended its blockade of Hormuz after agreeing to a 60-day ceasefire with the United States, while discussions for a final peace deal are ongoing. However, Iran's Revolutionary Guards declared the strait closed again on Saturday, in reaction to Israeli actions in Lebanon, which led to a drop in shipping activity.
On Monday, four LNG tankers from Qatar navigated into the Gulf, alongside two supertankers capable of carrying up to 4 million barrels of crude oil. One of these supertankers indicated its destination as the Iraqi port of Basra, based on data from ship tracking firm Kpler.
Additionally, two smaller crude tankers with a combined load of just under 2 million barrels of oil exited the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf of Oman on the same day, as reported by the MarineTraffic platform.
“Even though daily crossings are still below the 125 seen before the hostilities with Iran, we see a positive trend,” said ship broker Clarksons in a note on Monday.
Shipping sources pointed out that more vessels might be passing through the strait with their transponders turned off, and there have been reports of outages in the AIS ship tracking system, which traders use to monitor vessel movements.
On Sunday, only five vessels were reported to have crossed the strait, down from 26 the previous day, according to Kpler data. Among them were three Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) each carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi crude oil and fuel oil, with one vessel headed to Japan.
The U.S. Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center noted that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been increasing, with commercial vessels continuing to navigate south via Omani waters and a route controlled by Iran.
Four LNG tankers, including Wadi Al Sail, Mekaines, Al Sadd, and Mesaimeer, entered the strait on Monday via the Iranian route, marking the first time since the onset of the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.
QatarEnergy, which has seen its LNG exports significantly reduced since the conflict began on February 28, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Additionally, the Marshall Islands-flagged bulk vessel Summit Success also made its way into the Gulf on Monday, according to LSEG data.
OIL EXPORTS MOVING
The U.S. Central Command reported that 55 merchant vessels passed through the strait on Saturday, carrying over 17 million barrels of oil for global markets.
Among the tankers that left the strait on Saturday were three VLCCs transporting crude oil from the UAE, Kuwait, and Iraq, as well as three tankers loaded with various oil products, according to the data.
On Saturday, 13 ships entered the strait, including two VLCCs, according to the data.
Since the following Monday, over 25 million barrels of Iranian oil have crossed through the virtual blockade, stated Hamid Bovard, the head of the National Iranian Oil Company, on state TV Sunday.
Three sanctioned VLCCs, Elva, Virgo, and Vigor, which loaded Iranian oil from Kharg Island between late April and early May, were observed exiting the strait on Monday, according to LSEG and Kpler data.
Gulf producers, including Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, have issued tenders for selling crude oil with loading options from both inside and outside the Strait of Hormuz.
Last week, two South Korean-operated vessels also transited through the strait following the interim peace agreement, stated Seoul’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries on Monday, without providing names for the ships.
Meanwhile, two LNG tankers controlled by ADNOC were delivering cargoes to India on Monday after recently passing through the strait, as per Kpler and LSEG data.
The Al Hamra tanked was discharging at the Ennore LNG terminal, while the Mubaraz was scheduled to offload at the Kochi terminal on Tuesday. Both tankers were last tracked in ballast east of the strait in late May to early June, before reappearing over the weekend off the coast of India loaded with shipments.
“We do not comment on vessel positions, movements, and routing, or third-party reports as part of our policy,” ADNOC stated.
Both Al Hamra and Mubaraz have now completed two "dark" voyages out of Hormuz since the conflict began.