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By Katya Golubkova and Florence Tan
TOKYO, May 14 (Reuters) – A Panama-flagged crude oil tanker managed by Japanese refining group Eneos 5020.T has passed through the Strait of Hormuz, ship-tracking data from LSEG showed on Thursday, the second instance of such a Japan-linked oil ship making it through.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has directly contacted Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to allow for the transit of the ship, which has four Japanese crew members onboard, she said in a post on X.
Before the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran largely disrupted oil supplies via the Strait of Hormuz, Japan relied on the Gulf for about 95% of its oil imports.
Miyata Tomohide, chief executive of Eneos, Japan's biggest refining group, told reporters on Thursday that the tanker has crossed the strait safely and is expected to arrive in Japan in late May or early June.
The Eneos-managed tanker is carrying 1.2 million barrels of Kuwait crude and 700,000 barrels of Emirati Das Blend oil loaded in late February, Kpler data showed separately, with an estimated arrival date of June 3.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, who coordinated the efforts that included Japan's embassy in Tehran, said on Thursday the government did not pay a toll to Iran for the transit.
Tokyo has stepped up diplomatic efforts since the conflict emerged in late February, and switched to alternatives to partially substitute for the lost barrels, while holding down domestic fuel prices with massive government subsidies.
There are 39 Japan-related vessels still stuck in the Gulf, according to Takaichi.
"The government will continue to actively pursue all diplomatic efforts and coordination to achieve, as soon as possible, the transit of the Strait of Hormuz for all vessels, including Japanese-affiliated ones," she said.
The latest passage through the Strait follows one in late April by the Idemitsu Maru, carrying Saudi oil and managed by a unit of Japanese refiner Idemitsu Kosan 5019.T.
Idemitsu, Japan's second-biggest oil refining group, said this week it expected Hormuz to reopen sometime between July and September, with benchmark Dubai oil prices declining to pre-war levels by the March 2027 end of the next fiscal year.
As Japanese refineries tap strategic stockpiles and ramp up alternative supplies from locations such as the United States and the Caspian region, refinery runs started to normalise this month, surpassing 70% for the first time since late March.
A Chinese supertanker carrying Iraqi crude sailed through the Strait on Wednesday, exiting the Gulf just before a Beijing summit of U.S. and Chinese leaders over the following two days.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi visited Beijing last week.
(Reporting by Katya Golubkova in Tokyo and Florence Tan in Singapore; Additional reporting by Yuka Obayashi, Tamiyuki Kihara and Kentaro Okasaka;Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Clarence Fernandez)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2026.
Fuente: GCAPTAIN_NEWS
