Oil Tankers Go Dark to Exit the Strait of Hormuz

Three supertankers laden with crude oil successfully exited the Strait of Hormuz last week, carrying Iraqi and Emirati oil, Reuters has reported, citing data from Kpler and LSEG. The vessels switched off their transponders to avoid detection.

One of the tankers is carrying Basrah Medium and heading towards Vietnam, the data showed. Previously, the tanker made two unsuccessful attempts to exit the strait, Reuters noted in its report.

The other, which loaded Upper Zakum crude from ADNOC, has already offloaded its cargo in Fujairah—the Emirati port city just outside the Strait of Hormuz that earlier this month became the target of an Iranian attack. The third tanker, also carrying Iraqi crude, is in transit with the destination as of yet unclear, per the Reuters data.

Separately, Kpler reported earlier this month that there are 42 container ships still stuck in the Strait of Hormuz, while nine had successfully exited. Two have been seized by the Iranian authorities.

Last week, an oil tanker that had passed through the Strait of Hormuz in mid-April arrived at a port in South Korea, shipping the first crude cargo to the country via Hormuz since the war began. The Malta-flagged Odessa crude oil tanker arrived at Daesan on South Korea’s west coast laden with 1 million barrels of crude.

The Odessa is one of a handful of tankers that have managed to exit the Middle Eastern oil chokepoint despite Iran’s blockade. Some of those who made it were allowed to do so by the Iranian authorities in exchange for payments.

Meanwhile, however, more than 40 India-bound vessels, nearly half of which carry energy products, are still trapped in the Persian Gulf, unable to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. India is especially vulnerable to the disruption in oil and gas flows out of the Persian Gulf due to its substantial dependence on imported energy.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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