Tankers carrying oil, natural gas head for China and Pakistan via Hormuz Strait

DUBAI — A supertanker carrying Iraqi oil bound for China has left the Gulf and crossed into the Arabian Sea, as diplomatic efforts continue over reopening the Strait of Hormuz.The Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Eagle Verona transported about 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil and crossed from the Gulf of Oman into the Arabian Sea, according to vessel tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.Meanwhile, a liquefied natural gas tanker exited the Strait of Hormuz heading to Pakistan on Monday after being stranded for nearly three months, shipping data showed.The vessels are among a handful of supertankers exiting the Gulf this month via a transit route that Iran has ordered ships to use. Last week, three Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) made their way to China and South Korea with 6 million barrels of crude.LNG tanker ⁠Fuwairit is crossing the Strait of ‌Hormuz on Monday and is ‌expected to discharge its cargo at Pakistan on Tuesday, shipping data ‌on LSEG and Kpler showed. The vessel, sailing under ‌the Bahamas flag, loaded LNG at Qatar’s Ras Laffan port around March 28.Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), which owns the Fuwairit, could not be immediately reached for comment outside office hours.Separately, the ‌VLCC Eagle Verona, which exited the strait on Saturday, is expected to reach Ningbo ⁠port in ⁠eastern China on June 12 to discharge its cargo, shipping data on LSEG and Kpler showed.The Singaporean-flagged vessel chartered by Unipec, the trading arm of Asia’s largest refiner Sinopec, loaded nearly 2 million barrels of Basrah crude around February 26, according to the data.Sinopec and Malaysian state shipper MISC, which owns the vessel, could not be immediately reached for comment outside office hours.Oil markets are closely monitoring tanker movements in and out of the Arabian Gulf, where most commercial shipping has been disrupted since Iran reportedly restricted access to the Strait of Hormuz following military strikes by the United States and Israel in late February.The closure has significantly slowed maritime traffic in and out of one of the world’s most critical energy corridors.Before the war began, shipping traffic through the strait averaged 125 to 140 daily passages. Some 20,000 seafarers remain stranded inside the Gulf on board hundreds of ships.