More liquefied natural gas tankers have resumed transiting the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, ship-tracking data showed, and 22 Japan-linked vessels have left the Gulf since Tuesday, Tokyo said, despite renewed fighting in the Middle East.
The Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil and LNG shipments, has been closely watched by shipping companies and governments following Iranian attacks this week on commercial vessels and U.S. retaliatory strikes on Iran that have reduced traffic through the waterway.
But at least five ballast LNG tankers have entered the strait in recent days, according to data from Kpler and LSEG.
The vessels include GasLog Shanghai, controlled by Greek shipping company GasLog, and QatarEnergy-linked carriers Al Samriya, Al Dafna, Al Gattara and Al Rayyan.
The GasLog Shanghai and Al Rayyan likely transited into the strait overnight, having been seen outside the waterway on July 9, the data showed.
The other three QatarEnergy-linked vessels were last seen outside the Strait of Hormuz, off the west coast of India, several weeks ago: Al Samriya and Al Gattara around June 18-19, and Al Dafna on June 29.
QatarEnergy and GasLog did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside of business hours.
On Thursday, the Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Nissos Kea entered the strait, while the VLCC Lila Vadinar exited.
“What’s different now, compared to the start of the conflict, is that Iran is striking vessels using the ‘Omani route’ rather than targeting all vessels, which means vessels will increasingly turn towards the ‘Iranian route’ or transit dark when transiting through the strait,” said Xavier Tang, a senior market analyst at Vortexa.
