Oil tankers exit Strait of Hormuz amid fragile US-Iran ceasefire

Three supertankers laden with oil have passed through the Strait of Hormuz amid the fragile truce between the United States and Iran, according to shipping data.

Iran’s blockade of the strait, a chokepoint for about 20 percent of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, has disrupted global energy supplies and sent oil prices soaring since the start of the US and Israel’s war on Iran at the end of February.

The Liberia-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Serifos, and the China-flagged VLCCs Cospearl Lake and He Rong Hai exited the “Hormuz Passage trial anchorage”, which bypasses Iran’s Larak Island, on Saturday, data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) showed.

Each vessel is capable of carrying 2 million barrels of oil.

Serifos, which is chartered by Thai state-owned energy firm PTT, according to data from LSEG and analytics firm Kpler, is among seven vessels that Malaysia sought clearance for from Iran to transit the strait, two people familiar with the matter told the Reuters news agency.

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, according to LSEG and Kpler data.

Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PTT, and Malaysian state energy firm Petronas did not respond to requests for comment sent outside office hours on Sunday.

Another tanker, Ocean Thunder, loaded with Iraqi crude and chartered by a unit of Petronas, transited the waterway last week.

Cospearl Lake, laden with Iraqi oil, is expected to arrive at eastern China’s Zhoushan port on May 1, LSEG data showed.

It was not clear where He Rong Hai would discharge the Saudi crude on board.

Both VLCCs are chartered by Unipec, the trading arm of Chinese energy giant Sinopec, the data showed.

Sinopec did not respond to a request for comment outside office hours.

Hundreds of tankers are still stuck in the Gulf, waiting to exit during the two-week ceasefire period.

Three other empty tankers – Mombasa B, Agios Fanourios I, and Shalamar – were sailing in the strait on Sunday to enter the Gulf and load oil, LSEG data showed.

Malta-flagged VLCC Agios Fanourios I signalled that it is heading to Iraq to load Basrah crude for Vietnam, according to the data.

Eastern Mediterranean Maritime, which manages Agios Fanourios I and Cmb.Tech NV, the manager for Liberia-flagged VLCC Mombasa B, did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside office hours.

Pakistan National Shipping, which manages the tanker Shalamar, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.