Two liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers carrying Middle Eastern fuel are exiting the Strait of Hormuz on Monday en route to Pakistan and China, while a supertanker loaded with Iraqi crude departed the Gulf on Saturday after being stranded for nearly three months, according to shipping data, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.

The ongoing U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, which began on February 28, has sharply reduced shipping activity through the Strait of Hormuz — a critical maritime chokepoint through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and LNG supplies normally pass.

The vessels are among only a small number of supertankers that have managed to leave the Gulf this month through a designated transit corridor that Iran has instructed ships to use. Last week, three Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) transported around 6 million barrels of crude oil to China and South Korea.

Shipping data from LSEG and Kpler showed that the LNG tanker Fuwairit was crossing the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and is expected to unload its cargo in Pakistan on Tuesday. Sailing under the Bahamas flag, the tanker loaded LNG at Qatar’s Ras Laffan port around March 28.

Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), the owner of the Fuwairit, was not immediately available for comment.

Another LNG tanker, Al Rayyan, has also exited the strait. The vessel, carrying LNG loaded at Ras Laffan, was last recorded inside the Gulf on May 22 and is currently located outside the strait between Iran and Oman. According to LSEG and Kpler data, it is expected to deliver its cargo to China on June 27.

QatarEnergy, the owner of Al Rayyan, did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular office hours.

Separately, the VLCC Eagle Verona, which exited the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, is expected to arrive at Ningbo port in eastern China on June 12 to unload its cargo, shipping data showed.

The Singapore-flagged tanker, chartered by Unipec — the trading arm of Asia’s largest refiner, Sinopec — loaded nearly 2 million barrels of Basrah crude around February 26, according to the data.

Earlier, two sources told Reuters that the Eagle Verona was among seven vessels for which Malaysia had sought transit permission from Iran. Since then, five of those ships have successfully left the waterway, while two others remain inside the Gulf.

Neither Sinopec nor Malaysian state shipping company MISC, which owns the vessel, could immediately be reached for comment.

Before the conflict began, shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz averaged between 125 and 140 vessel passages per day. Currently, around 20,000 seafarers remain stranded aboard hundreds of ships trapped inside the Gulf.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev