By Ruth Chai and Florence Tan
April 15 (Reuters) – The U.S. blockade on vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports adds to uncertainty over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been all-but-shut since the start of the Iran war.
Ordinarily, roughly one fifth of global oil and gas exports transit the Strait of Hormuz.
Here’s a look at some of the non-Iranian oil tankers that have passed the strait since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran on February 28, listed by cargo destination.
VIETNAM Malta-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Agios Fanourios I entered the Gulf via the strait on April 15 in a second attempt to transit, according to Kpler data.
The tanker was among several vessels that tried to enter the Gulf on Sunday during the U.S.-Iran ceasefire.
It is heading to Iraq to load Basra crude to carry to Vietnam, the data showed.
MALAYSIA
Liberia-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier Serifos entered and exited the Hormuz Passage trial anchorage that bypasses Iran’s Larak Island on April 10. The tanker, carrying crude loaded from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in early March, is expected to arrive at Malaysia’s Malacca port on April 21.
Ocean Thunder, loaded with Iraqi crude and chartered by a unit of Malaysian state energy firm Petronas, transited the waterway on April 5 and is expected to discharge its cargo of 1 million barrels of Basrah Heavy crude in Malaysia’s Pengerang on April 18.
Both tankers are among seven Malaysia-linked vessels cleared by Iran to transit the strait, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
CHINA
China-flagged VLCCs Cospearl Lake and He Rong Hai exited the Strait of Hormuz on April 11. Cospearl Lake, laden with Iraqi oil, is expected to arrive at China’s Zhoushan port on May 1. He Rong Hai is heading to Myanmar to discharge its Saudi crude cargo.
Both VLCCs are chartered by Unipec, the trading arm of Chinese energy giant Sinopec.
VLCC Dhalkut, which passed the strait on April 2, was heading to Myanmar to discharge Saudi crude on April 22, Kpler data showed. Crude discharged at Myanmar typically goes to PetroChina’s Yunnan refinery.
On March 31, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said that three Chinese ships recently sailed through the Strait of Hormuz after coordination with relevant parties.
INDIA
At least two VLCCs and two suezmax tankers exited the Gulf in March and April to offload crude at India.
VLCC Habrut, which crossed the strait on April 2, was heading to Paradip to discharge Abu Dhabi crude for Indian Oil Corp on April 15.
Meanwhile, VLCC Marathi discharged Saudi crude at the Sikka port for Reliance Industries on March 28, Kpler data showed.
The Liberia-flagged Smyrni suezmax tanker exited the strait on March 12 and discharged 1 million barrels of Saudi crude at Mumbai for state refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp on March 16, the data showed. Another suezmax Shenlong left the strait on March 6 and discharged the same amount of Saudi crude at Mumbai on March 11.
Gabon-flagged tanker Msg, laden with residual fuel, was headed to India’s Pipavav port after passing the strait on April 9, Kpler data showed. Liberia-flagged Navara, which sailed through the strait on March 31, discharged fuel oil at Sikka port on April 8, the data showed.
Two India-bound liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tankers carrying about 94,000 metric tons of the cooking gas have safely transited the Strait of Hormuz and are heading towards India, the government said in late March.
BW Tyr discharged at Mumbai and Pipavav between April 5 and April 7, while BW Elm discharged at three Indian ports between April 6 and April 15, Kpler data showed.
Prior to this, four other Indian-flagged LPG tankers have moved out of the strait — Shivalik, Nanda Devi, Pine Gas, and Jag Vasant.
PAKISTAN
Two Pakistan-flagged tankers entered the Gulf on April 12.
The Aframax tanker Shalamar was headed to the United Arab Emirates on Monday to load Das crude, the data showed, while the Panamax-sized Khairpur is heading to Kuwait to load refined products, according to the data.
Aframax tanker P. Aliki passed through the strait on March 28 and discharged Saudi crude at Karachi on March 31.
THAILAND
A Thai oil tanker owned by Bangchak Corporation has safely passed through the Strait of Hormuz following diplomatic coordination between Thailand and Iran, and was not required to pay to escape the blockade, a Thai official and the oil major that owns the vessel said on March 25.
The Suezmax tanker Pola discharged 1 million barrels of Khafji crude at Thailand and Singapore, Kpler data showed.
(Reporting by Ruth Chai and Florence Tan; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
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