https://arab.news/8xvpj
- 3 laden VLCCs transit via Strait of Hormuz on Saturday
SINGAPORE/KUALA LUMPUR: Three supertankers fully laden with oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, shipping data showed, in what appeared to be the first vessels to exit the Gulf since the US-Iran ceasefire deal.
Tehran’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 Iran war at the end of February.
The Liberia-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Serifos and China-flagged VLCCs Cospearl Lake and He Rong Hai, entered and exited the “Hormuz Passage trial anchorage” that bypasses Iran’s Larak Island on Saturday, LSEG data showed.
Each vessel is capable of carrying 2 million barrels of oil.
Serifos, which LSEG and Kpler data showed is chartered by Thai state-owned energy firm PTT, is among seven vesselsthat Malaysia sought clearance from Iran to transit the strait, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
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, data from LSEG and analytics firm Kpler showed.
Malaysia’s foreign ministry, Petronas and PTT did not respond to requests for comment on Sunday outside office hours. Another tanker Ocean Thunder, loaded with Iraqi crude and chartered by a unit of Malaysian state energy firm Petronas