Shipping data from Kpler and the London Exchange Group showed on Monday that three crude oil tankers left the Strait of Hormuz last week and on Sunday with their tracking devices switched off to avoid Iranian attacks, highlighting a growing trend to continue oil exports from the Middle East.
The data indicated that two giant oil tankers, the Agios Phanourios 1 and the Kiara M, each carrying two million barrels of Iraqi oil, crossed the strait on Sunday.
The data also showed that the tanker Agios Phanourios 1 was heading to Vietnam to unload its cargo at the Nghi Son refinery and petrochemical complex on May 26. The tanker had failed to transit the strait in at least two previous attempts since loading Basra Medium crude on April 17.
Neither Eastern Mediterranean Maritime, which operates the tanker, nor Nghi Son refinery has yet responded to requests for comment. Kpler data shows the tanker Kiara M left the Gulf on Sunday with its transponder switched off. The destination of the San Marino-flagged vessel, which is carrying two million barrels of Iraqi crude oil, remains unclear. The tanker is operated by a Shanghai-based company and owned by an entity registered in the Marshall Islands. The companies could not be reached for comment as their contact details are not publicly available.
According to Kpler data, the supertanker Basra Energy loaded two million barrels of Upper Zakum crude at Abu Dhabi National Oil Company's (ADNOC) Zirco terminal on May 1 and departed the Strait of Hormuz on May 6. The Panamanian-flagged tanker then discharged its cargo at tanker terminals in Fujairah on May 8.
It is not yet clear which company chartered the tanker, which is owned and operated by Sinocor Shipping. The company has not yet responded to a request for comment outside of business hours.
ADNOC and its buyers have recently sent several tankers loaded with crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz in an attempt to move quantities of oil that have been disrupted in the Gulf due to the crisis in the Middle East.
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