SINGAPORE: Ship-tracking data showed three liquefied natural gas tankers passed through the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, heading to Pakistan, China. India, as well as a supertanker with Iraqi crude for China after being stranded for nearly three months.
The US-Israeliwaron Iran that began on Feb 28 has severelycurtailedshipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil. LNG supply normally flows.
The vessels join a handful of supertankers leaving the Gulf this month via a transit route. Iran has ordered ships to use. Last week, three Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) made their way to China. South Korea with 6 million barrels of crude.
LNG tanker Fuwairit crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. is expected to discharge its cargo in Pakistan on Tuesday, LSEG and Kpler shipping data showed. The vessel, sailing under the Bahamas flag, loaded LNG at Qatar’s Ras Laffan port around March 28.
Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), which owns the Fuwairit, declined to comment.
The LNG tanker Al Rayyan has also passed through the waterway. Carrying a cargo loaded at Ras Laffan, it was last seen in the Gulf on May 22,. is now located outside the strait between Iran and Oman. It is expected to discharge its cargo in China on June 27, LSEG and Kpler data shows.
QatarEnergy, which owns Al Rayyan, did not respond immediately to a request for comment outside office hours.
A tanker managed by 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 on ship-tracking data on May 23 off the coast of India, Kpler data shows.
An ADNOC spokesperson declined to comment on the position, movements or routing of its vessels, citing company policy.
Separately, the VLCC Eagle Verona, which exited the strait on Saturday, is expected to reach Ningbo port in eastern China on June 12 to discharge its cargo, LSEG. Kpler data showed.
The Singaporean-flagged vessel chartered by Unipec. the trading arm of Asian refiner Sinopec, loaded nearly 2 million barrels of Basrah crude around February 26, the data showed.
The Eagle Verona was among seven ships for which Malaysia had sought permission to transit, two sources had told Reuters. Five of the ships have since exited the waterway while two more remain in the Gulf.
Sinopec and Malaysian state shipper MISC, which owns the vessel, could not be reached for immediate comment.
Before the war began, shipping traffic through the strait averaged 125 to 140 daily passages. About 20,000 seafarers remain stranded on hundreds of ships in the Gulf.
Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2026
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