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Ship tracking data showed that three vessels capable of transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) passed through the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, heading for Pakistan, China, and India, as well as a supertanker with Iraqi crude bound for the Asian giant after being stranded for almost three months.
The war between the United States and Israel against Iran, which began on February 28, has severely restricted maritime transport through the waterway, through which about a fifth of the world's oil and LNG supply normally flows.
These vessels join a handful of supertankers leaving the Persian Gulf this month via a transit route that Iran has ordered ships to use.
Last week, three VLCCs headed to China and South Korea with 6 million barrels of crude.
The LNG tanker Fuwairit crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, May 25, and is expected to discharge its cargo in Pakistan on Tuesday, May 26, according to shipping data from LSEG and Kpler.
The vessel, sailing under the flag of the Bahamas, loaded LNG at the Qatari port of Ras Laffan around March 28.
The Japanese company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), owner of the Fuwairit, declined to comment.
The LNG tanker Al Rayyan has also passed through the waterway. Carrying a cargo loaded in Ras Laffan, it was last seen in the Gulf on May 22 and is now outside the strait between Iran and Oman.
The Al Rayyan is expected to discharge in China on June 27, according to LSEG and Kpler data. QatarEnergy, owner of Al Rayyan, did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of office hours.
A tanker managed by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) also crossed the strait. The Al Hamra was last seen on April 19 east of the strait. It reappeared in ship tracking data on May 23 off the coast of India, Kpler data shows.
Separately, the VLCC Eagle Verona, which exited the strait on Saturday, is expected to arrive at Ningbo Port in eastern China on June 12 to discharge its cargo, according to LSEG and Kpler data.
The Singapore-flagged vessel, chartered by Unipec, the trading arm of Asian refiner Sinopec, loaded almost 2 million barrels of Basra crude around February 26, data showed.
The Eagle Verona was among seven ships for which Malaysia had requested transit permission, two sources told Reuters. Since then, five of the ships have exited the waterway, while two more remain in the Gulf.
Sinopec and Malaysian state shipping company MISC, owner of the vessel, could not be immediately reached for comment.
Before the war began, maritime traffic through the strait averaged between 125 and 140 passages daily. Some 20,000 sailors remain stranded on hundreds of vessels in the Gulf.
