Qatar Quietly Ships LNG Via Hormuz Strait To Major Buyers, Including China

Three tankers carrying liquefied natural gas crossed the Strait of Hormuz after switching off their transponders to avoid detection as Qatar and the UAE try to get the fuel out for major buyers like China, despite the closure of the strategic gateway, which handles a fifth of the global LNG supply.

The Al Rayyan tanker en route to China was seen near Muscat, Oman, on Monday after transiting the Hormuz.

The vessel stopped broadcasting a signal around May 22, when it was close to Qatar’s Ras Laffan export plant in the Persian Gulf.

Another tanker called the Fuwairit also stopped transmitting a signal on Sunday as it was partially through Hormuz and then was seen north of Muscat.

It is now heading to Pakistan, according to reports.

A third tanker carrying cargo from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.’s Das Island export plant left the Hormuz Strait for India.

The Hormuz Strait has been blocked to commercial traffic after the Iran-US war broke out in late February.

The U.S also imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports to pressure Tehran.

This seems to be the only way for LNG exporters in the Gulf to ship out fuel trapped in the region since February.

Since the U.S-Iran war began, only 7 LNG shipments have been made out of the region, compared to around 3-5 tankers exiting the waterway every day when the situation was normal.