Two India-bound vessels laden with cooking fuel from the Persian Gulf appear to have transited the Strait of Hormuz, making them the latest to exit despite continued restrictions from the US and Iran.
One of the liquefied petroleum gas carriers, Symi, emerged in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday after turning off its transponder, with the other — NV Sunshine — also following suit a few hours later.
The two passages take the number of large ships carrying oil, fuel and gas that have made it through Hormuz since Sunday to ten. That’s an increase from recent weeks and comes despite a deadlock in negotiations to end the war.
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A growing number of Persian Gulf exporters are managing to get their cargoes out. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. is among those that have been shipping fuel on vessels moving through the strait without broadcasting their locations.
The NV Sunshine, which loaded LPG at the United Arab Emirates’ Ruwais refinery, appeared in the Gulf of Oman late Thursday morning, after last transmitting its location east of Iran’s Larak Island a few hours earlier before going dark, ship-tracking data show. It was initially broadcasting India’s Mangalore as a destination, but is now indicating Kandla in western India. The Symi is transporting fuel from Qatar’s Ras Laffan to Kandla.
The other eight vessels that have recently made it through the strait include three more with LPG, four very large crude carriers and one liquefied natural gas tanker. Some are still inside the US blockade line that runs from Rad al Hadd in Oman to the Iran-Pakistan border.
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The Agios Fanourios I, a Vietnam-bound supertanker laden with Iraqi crude, is currently idling in the Gulf of Oman after having been turned around by the US Navy. Sailing past it on Thursday was the Chinese tanker Yuan Hua Hu, which has crossed the American blockade line, with Japan’s Eneos Endeavor trailing behind it very near the line.
Another VLGC, the Tara Gas that was known to have dabbled in the Iranian trade, also recently crossed the US line, heading in the direction of India.
