Another LNG Tanker Exits Strait of Hormuz for Pakistan

An LNG carrier exited the Strait of Hormuz enroute to Pakistan on May 25, Reuters reported citing data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) and Kpler.

Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines’ (MOL) Fuwairit tanker was crossing the heavily blockaded strait on May 25 and expected to deliver its cargo to Pakistan on May 26. The vessel, which is sailing with the Bahamas flag, loaded the cargo at Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial Complex on March 28.

The LNG tanker’s passage through the strait comes as another vessel, a supertanker with Iraqi crude exited the Strait of Hormuz on the same day enroute to China. The vessel had been stuck for almost three months.

MOL’s Fuwairit tanker is the latest of a handful of LNG vessels that have been granted safe passage through the strait by Tehran.

In early May, QatarEnergy sent two vessels, the Mizhem and the Al Kharaitiyat from the Ras Laffan Industrial Complex for Pakistan’s Port Qasim following an arrangement between Iran and Pakistan.

Two LNG vessels belonging to the United Arab Emirates’ Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) have also crossed the strait in May. According to Forbes, the UAE is one of the Gulf's most insulated economies from the Strait of Hormuz disruption thanks to the 380 km Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, which allows Abu Dhabi to route exports through Gulf of Oman ports entirely outside the Strait of Hormuz chokepoint.

Pakistan, which has been serving as a mediator in the conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran which erupted in late February, is in desperate need of LNG cargoes. In late April, state-run Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) purchased three cargoes on the spot market for the first time in over two years.

The Strait of Hormuz is a key chokepoint in the global LNG trade with about 17% of supply passing through the strait coming from Qatar and the UAE.