If the vessels successfully crossed the strait, it would be the first transit of LNG cargoes through the waterway since the US-Israel war with Iran began on February 28.
On Friday, Iran reopened the strait, which before the war carried a fifth of the world’s LNG trade, following a separate US-brokered ceasefire agreement on Thursday by Israel and Lebanon. A convoy of oil tankers was crossing the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday.
Data from analytics firm Kpler showed the vessels, Al Ghashamiya, Lebrethah, Fuwairit, Rasheeda and Disha, have moved eastward toward the Strait of Hormuz. The first four tankers are controlled by QatarEnergy, while Disha is chartered by India’s Petronet.
QatarEnergy did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
“Currently we see five laden vessels approaching the Strait of Hormuz. All five vessels loaded from Qatar’s Ras Laffan plant. Of the five, two are destined for Pakistan, two likely destined for India and one with no clear destination,” said Laura Page, manager of LNG Insight at Kpler.
“In addition, two ballast Adnoc vessels enter the Gulf of Oman and moor outside Fujairah. The vessel movements align with flaring data which suggests multiple trains at Ras Laffan’s north site have restarted as well as UAE’s Das Island plant,” she added.
Qatar is the world’s second-largest exporter of LNG, with shipments mostly going to buyers in Asia. Iranian attacks, however, knocked out 17 percent of Qatar’s LNG export capacity, with repairs expected to sideline 12.8 million metric tonnes per year of the fuel for three to five years.
A convoy of eight tankers was crossing the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, earlier data showed, as some ship owners said they hoped Tehran would allow them to leave the Gulf during a short ceasefire window in the Iran war.
The group — comprising one very large crude oil carrier (VLCC), several oil product and chemical tankers and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers — was passing through Iranian waters south of Larak island, according to MarineTraffic data. More tankers were seen following from the Gulf.
Hundreds of ships have been stuck in the Gulf since the US and Israel launched the war on Iran at the end of February and Tehran retaliated by closing the strait, forcing large oil and gas production cuts across all Gulf oil producers.
Iran reopened the strait, which before the war carried a fifth of the world’s oil trade, following a separate US-brokered ceasefire on Thursday by Israel and Lebanon.
Some ship owners said they might try to use the window of opportunity to leave the Gulf while the ceasefire lasts. They all asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.
A number of ships have also been observed approaching the strait and turning back since yesterday afternoon, indicating that the passage was still restricted.
In a statement on Saturday morning, a spokesperson for the Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said: “Following prior agreements reached in negotiations, the Islamic Republic of Iran, acting in good faith, agreed to the managed passage of a limited number of oil tankers and commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.”
The closure of the Strait has resulted in the largest supply loss in history — more than 10 million barrels of oil per day and a 20 percent cut in global liquefied natural gas supply, the International Energy Agency has said.
Top Gulf producers such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq and Kuwait say they need a steady inflow and outflow of tankers and unrestricted passage through the strait to be able to resume steady oil export operations.