A laden liquefied natural gas carrier and an empty products tanker are crossing the Strait of Hormuz, as traders watch for signs of traffic through the key waterway after an interim US-Iran peace deal went into effect.
The Mraikh, which picked up an LNG shipment from Qatar earlier this month, and the empty Ye Chi entered the strait early Thursday from the Persian Gulf, sailing along a route that’s been approved by Tehran for safe passages, ship-tracking data show. The latter signaled Chinese ownership, a method that’s become commonplace as vessels highlight their associations with countries that are on friendly terms with Iran.
Traffic through the strait was otherwise light, with smaller cargo vessels passing through early Thursday, hours after US President Donald Trump said he had signed the deal with Iran that involved a rapid reopening of the critical waterway. Even though anticipation was building up toward the signing in recent days, there were no reported and confirmed deals to pick up cargoes from the region. Shipowners were seeking clarity on how the reopening would work before deciding if they wanted to send ships through.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz for nearly four months has curbed access to gas and oil from within the Persian Gulf, with limited shipments going through by vessels that went dark — turning off their transponders to mask their locations — or with approval from Tehran.
Mraikh, which is chartered by QatarEnergy, is signaling Pakistan’s Port Qasim as its next location. Ye Chi, which is managed by a subsidiary of Chinese state-backed Cosco Shipping, didn’t indicate a clear destination. It wasn’t immediately clear if either vessels’ crossings were the result of negotiated deals with Tehran.
QatarEnergy and Cosco didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Qatar is aiming to restore most of its export capacity within two months of Hormuz reopening, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. That will require securing vessels to lift shipments — although no empty LNG tanker has sailed into the Persian Gulf since the conflict began in late February.
Mraikh’s shipment will also be a relief for Pakistan, which is grappling with a gas crunch since its supply from Qatar was cut off. The South Asian nation is seeking an LNG cargo in a tender, which it may cancel if the tanker arrives.
