LNG Tanker Exits Hormuz for India for First Time Since War Began

A liquefied natural gas tanker carrying a shipment to India emerged from the Strait of Hormuz, the first tanker from the Persian Gulf for the country since the start of the Iran war months ago, as the region’s exporters secretly supplied key buyers.

According to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg, Adnoc Logistics & Services’ Al Hamra tanker was seen heading towards Western India loaded with cargo the other day. The ship stopped sending signals around April 19, but at that time it was empty and idling near the eastern entrance of Hormuz.

According to Kpler, the tanker loaded cargo at Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.’s Das Island export facility, located behind Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, while it was not sending a signal. Satellite images show LNG tankers docking at Das Island, although no tankers broadcast their positions near the facility.

Adnoc exported two more shipments from the Persian Gulf, one to Japan and the other to China, in tankers that darkened as they crossed the waterway.

Hormuz has remained virtually sealed off from each other as the United States and Iran struggle to reach a peace deal, with both sides effectively blockading a waterway that normally supplies about a fifth of global LNG supplies. Ships continue to face security threats, and most transits through Hormuz occur with transponders turned off to avoid detection.

Last year, India received more than half of its LNG from Qatar and the UAE, but those flows have essentially stopped in the last few months, ship data show. The decline in deliveries has forced India to buy more shipments from the expensive spot market and restrict supplies to some industries.

According to ship data, Adnoc’s LNG tankers have stopped signal transmission around Hormuz and in the Persian Gulf as a security measure to protect the ships and their crews. Adnoc did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.

While the move shows that LNG exporters in the Persian Gulf are finding ways to deliver the fuel to customers, it represents only a small fraction of the pre-war volume at which about three tankers carrying the super-chilled fuel leave Hormuz each day.