Three Tankers Clear Hormuz as Other Ships Abandon Passage

(Bloomberg) -- Three tankers — the first to attempt a transit of the Strait of Hormuz since the US announced a blockade — have successfully cleared the waterway. After sailing near the Iranian coast, the trio have now emerged into open waters. 

Meanwhile, the blockade appears to be deterring others, with at least two ships abandoning their planned journeys.

Among the successful transits, the New Future, which has no clear links to Iran, and the US-sanctioned Auroura began moving northeast early Monday from waters off the United Arab Emirates, ship-tracking data show. The medium-range tankers appeared to have taken a route just south of Iran’s Larak island, a passage that Tehran has in recent days said vessels attempting an eastward transit should follow. 

New Future has navigated the bend in the strait and is now off the coast of Sohar port in Oman. Auroura is near the exit of the waterway in the Gulf of Oman.

At the same time, a Vietnam-flagged and owned liquefied petroleum gas carrier approached the strait in the opposite direction to enter the Persian Gulf. The NV Sunshine began sailing northward from waters off Sohar in the Gulf of Oman late Sunday and is now inside the gulf signaling it’s headed to Sharjah in the UAE.

The transits come just hours before the US implemented a blockade of the areas around the Strait of Hormuz, after talks between Tehran and Washington fell apart over the weekend. The restrictions — which apply to all vessels entering or departing Iranian ports or coastal areas and kicked in at 10 a.m. New York time on Monday — follow the Islamic Republic’s tightening grip on the vital waterway since the start of the war, which has caused maritime traffic to plunge.

Pressure from the impending US naval blockade appeared to disrupt commercial shipping later on Monday. The US-sanctioned oil products tanker Rich Starry appeared to turn back during its outbound transit near Iran’s Qeshm Island, while the China-linked bulk carrier Guan Yuan Fu Xing made a sudden U-turn on its inbound passage on the opposite side of the waterway.

Ship transits are being closely watched as the US and Iran vie for control over the chokepoint, through which around a fifth of the world’s oil used to flow. Vessels have been targeted or attacked by Tehran in recent weeks for their links to Western countries or ownership. Trump’s latest move is aimed at challenging the Islamic Republic’s control of the strait and depriving it of energy revenue.

The New Future is carrying more than 330,000 barrels of gasoil that was loaded at Hamriyah, a port in the UAE, in early April. The vessel entered the gulf shortly before the start of the war in late February.

The Marshall Islands-flagged vessel is owned and managed by Hong Kong Chuanglang Shipping, according to maritime database Equasis. A call made to Chuanglang’s listed phone number did not get through, with the operator saying it had not paid its phone bills. The company did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

The Panama-flagged Auroura is signaling that it has Indian crew on board, in what has become a commonly seen tactic that vessels use as they transit Hormuz to show their affiliations. The ship was sanctioned by the US in December for its links to the Iranian oil trade. Bloomberg News couldn’t immediately verify where the tanker had loaded its cargo from. The ship has been in the gulf since December.

Its owner is listed as Aurora Shipowners Ltd., which is based in Mumbai and shares the same address as its manager, Golden Gate Ship Management. There were no contact details listed for either company.

Vietnam has recently said that it’s working with Iranian authorities to ensure safe passage of its vessels through Hormuz. NV Sunshine is owned and managed by Nhat Viet Transportation Corp., Equasis shows. The Ho Chi Minh City-based company did not immediately answer a call and an emailed request for comment.

--With assistance from Dan Murtaugh.

(Updates throughout with latest on Hormuz transits.)

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