By Stephen Stapczynski
July 29, 2026 (Bloomberg) – The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is continuing its liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from its plant in the Persian Gulf, despite rising tensions in the region that force producers to limit visible traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
On Wednesday, an empty LNG carrier owned by ADNOC's shipping division was spotted in the Persian Gulf. The ship had turned off its location transmitters while passing through the strait, as reported by ship data from Bloomberg. This crossing is unusual, as visible traffic in the strait has significantly decreased since a Qatari LNG vessel was attacked earlier this month.
Satellite images indicate that loading operations are still ongoing. On Friday, a tanker was docked at the Das Island export terminal in the United Arab Emirates, as shown in images captured by Copernicus Sentinel-2. At that time, no vessel was transmitting its location near the terminal, according to Bloomberg's shipping data.
These activities highlight that fuel exporters are striving to maintain shipments despite the breakdown of US-Iran peace discussions, which led to increased attacks on tankers near the strait, a critical route that typically carries about 20% of the world's LNG supplies. Carriers are increasingly turning off their location signals as a safety measure to avoid being detected.
“We do not comment on specific operational matters, including voyage planning or vessel movements,” said an ADNOC spokesperson.
ADNOC-related tankers had briefly resumed broadcasting their positions in late June when the security situation in the Hormuz area had improved. This practice has since largely ceased.
Three other LNG vessels—either owned by or under long-term charter with ADNOC—that were anchored off the UAE's eastern coast near the entrance to the strait stopped transmitting their signals on July 24, according to shipping data and Marine Traffic. This suggests that these empty tankers may also be navigating through the strait to collect shipments from Das Island.