First LNG shipment since Iran war began appears to exit Hormuz

The first liquefied natural gas shipment since the war in the Middle East began two months ago appears to have traversed the Strait of Hormuz to exit the Persian Gulf.

The Mubaraz – which loaded a cargo from Abu Dhabi National Oil’s Das Island facility in the United Arab Emirates around early March – is now passing the southern tip of India, according to ship-tracking data.

The tanker had been idling inside the Gulf, but stopped sending a signal around March 31, before re-appearing east of India on April 27, the data show.

The global energy market is laser focused on traffic through Hormuz, which has dwindled to almost zero over the past two months as Iran and the US imposed rival blockades.

The closure of the waterway for roughly a fifth of global LNG supply has tightened the market, sending prices sharply higher.

It is a common tactic for ships to turn off transponders when passing Hormuz to mask detection, and ship data can also be jammed or updated. Adnoc, which owns the vessel through a unit, didn’t respond to a request for comment. 

At present, the Mubaraz is signaling a terminal in China as its destination.

In early April, tracking data did show an empty LNG tanker exiting the Strait of Hormuz.

So far, however, no vessel loaded with the fuel has been confirmed to have made the transit. Several ships carrying Qatari LNG approached the strait, but turned back amid the persistent US-Iran tensions. BLOOMBERG