Media: Tankers carrying Middle East oil, LNG leave Hormuz for China, Pakistan

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz showed further signs of recovery on Monday (May 25) as tankers carrying Middle Eastern oil and liquefied natural gas resumed voyages to Asia, despite months of disruption caused by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Shipping data showed two LNG tankers departing the Gulf through the strategically vital waterway, with one heading to Pakistan and another bound for China, Caliber.Az reports via British media.

A supertanker carrying Iraqi crude oil to China also exited the strait after remaining stranded for nearly three months.

The conflict, which began on February 28, has sharply reduced maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — a critical route that normally handles around a fifth of global oil and LNG supplies.

The LNG tanker Fuwairit, sailing under the Bahamas flag, was crossing the strait on Monday (May 25) after loading cargo at Qatar’s Ras Laffan port in late March. Data from LSEG and Kpler showed the vessel was expected to unload its cargo in Pakistan on Tuesday (May 26).

Another LNG tanker, Al Rayyan, also left the Gulf after loading cargo at Ras Laffan. The vessel, owned by QatarEnergy, was last tracked in the Gulf on May 22 and is expected to arrive in China in late June.

Separately, the Singapore-flagged supertanker Eagle Verona exited the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday (May 23) carrying nearly two million barrels of Iraqi Basrah crude destined for Ningbo in eastern China. Shipping data showed the vessel is expected to arrive on June 12.

The tanker, chartered by Unipec — the trading arm of Chinese refining giant Sinopec — had loaded its cargo shortly before the outbreak of the conflict.

The vessels are among a small number of tankers that have resumed transits through the Gulf this month using routes approved by Iran. Last week, three very large crude carriers transported around six million barrels of crude to China and South Korea.

Before the war, between 125 and 140 vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz each day. Shipping disruptions have left around 20,000 seafarers stranded aboard hundreds of ships inside the Gulf.