SINGAPORE, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Recently, three liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates were transferred between ships outside the Strait of Hormuz for delivery to India and Japan, according to ship-tracking companies.
Several commercial vessels have faced attacks amid rising tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping route, since the U.S. and Israeli conflict with Iran began on February 28.
While most LNG carriers have been able to pass through the strait safely, they usually deliver cargoes directly to the buyers. In contrast, ship-to-ship (STS) transfers for LNG are rare.
The LNG tanker GasLog Shanghai, which had an incident while leaving the Strait of Hormuz, finished an STS transfer with GasLog Savannah in late August off the coast of Oman, according to Vortexa and Kpler.
On July 31, the GasLog Shanghai experienced an incident while exiting the Strait of Hormuz, carrying cargo from Qatar's Ras Laffan export terminal.
Both GasLog Shanghai and GasLog Savannah are managed by the Greek shipping company GasLog. QatarEnergy and GasLog did not respond to requests for comments.
Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz during the six-month conflict, disrupting energy supplies, increasing prices, and raising broader inflation worries.
Sinoce the conflict started, LNG exports from the region have dropped, pushing up Asian spot LNG prices to a five-month high of $23.20 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), more than double the prices before the conflict began.
Additionally, the QatarEnergy-operated tanker Al Rekayyat, which was hit by a projectile near the Strait of Hormuz in early July, conducted an STS transfer in mid-August on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates, according to Vortexa and Kpler data.
The Al Rekayyat transferred LNG to the Qatari tanker Tembek. The cargo, originally loaded at Ras Laffan, was delivered to India's Dahej terminal on August 31, as per Kpler's data.
A third tanker, the ADNOC-operated Mraweh, also completed an STS transfer with LNG Enugu off the coast of Oman in mid-August, according to Vortexa and Kpler.
The Mraweh loaded its LNG cargo from Das Island in early August before transferring it to LNG Enugu, which is currently heading to Futtsu, Japan, according to Kpler data.
ADNOC declined to comment. The shipping firm BW Group and Japanese trading house Marubeni, co-owners of LNG Enugu through a joint venture, did not respond to requests for comments.