By Emily Chow
SINGAPORE, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Three liquefied natural gas cargoes loaded in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have been transferred between ships outside the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks for delivery to India and Japan, according to ship-tracking firms.
Several commercial vessels have faced attacks amid heightened tensions in the Strait of Hormuz — a key shipping route — since the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran broke out on February 28.
Most LNG tankers that have managed to transit the strait have delivered the cargoes directly to end-buyers. Unlike crude oil, ship-to-ship (STS) LNG transfers are unusual.
The LNG carrier GasLog Shanghai, which was involved in an incident while exiting the Strait of Hormuz, completed an STS transfer with GasLog Savannah in late August off the coast of Oman, according to Vortexa and Kpler.
An incident had occurred on the GasLog Shanghai LNG vessel on July 31 while exiting the Strait of Hormuz with cargo loaded at Qatar’s Ras Laffan export terminal.
Both GasLog Shanghai and GasLog Savannah are controlled by Greek shipping company GasLog. QatarEnergy and GasLog did not respond to requests for comment.
Iran has largely shut the Strait of Hormuz during the six-month conflict, disrupting energy supplies, driving up prices and fueling wider inflation concerns.
LNG exports from the region have fallen since the conflict’s start, helping to push Asian spot LNG prices to a five-month high of $23.20 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), more than double the pre-conflict levels.
Additionally, the QatarEnergy-controlled Al Rekayyat tanker, which was hit by a projectile near the Strait of Hormuz in early July, conducted an STS transfer in mid-August on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates, Vortexa and Kpler data showed.
The Al Rekayyat conducted the ship-to-ship transfer with another Qatari LNG tanker, Tembek. The cargo, originally loaded at Ras Laffan, was subsequently delivered by Tembek to India’s Dahej terminal on August 31, Kpler data showed.
A third tanker — ADNOC-controlled Mraweh — completed an STS transfer with LNG Enugu off the coast of Oman, outside the Hormuz strait, in mid-August, according to Vortexa and Kpler.
The Mraweh had loaded an LNG cargo from Das Island in early August before conducting the STS transfer with LNG Enugu. The LNG Enugu is currently en route to Futtsu, Japan, showed Kpler data.
ADNOC declined to comment. Shipping firm BW Group and Japanese trading house Marubeni, which both own LNG Enugu through a joint venture, did not respond to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Emily Chow; Editing by Florence Tan and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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Facts Only
* Three liquefied natural gas cargoes were loaded in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
* Cargoes were transferred between ships outside the Strait of Hormuz for delivery to India and Japan in recent weeks.
* Ship-to-ship (STS) LNG transfers are noted as unusual compared to crude oil.
* The GasLog Shanghai completed an STS transfer with GasLog Savannah off the coast of Oman in late August.
* An incident occurred on the GasLog Shanghai LNG vessel on July 31 while exiting the Strait of Hormuz with cargo loaded at Qatar’s Ras Laffan export terminal.
* The Al Rekayyat tanker, controlled by QatarEnergy, conducted an STS transfer in mid-August on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates.
* The Al Rekayyat transferred cargo to Tembek, which delivered it to India’s Dahej terminal by August 31.
* ADNOC-controlled Mraweh completed an STS transfer with LNG Enugu off the coast of Oman in mid-August.
* LNG Enugu was en route to Futtsu, Japan.
* QatarEnergy and GasLog did not respond to requests for comment.
Executive Summary
Full Take
The sequence of tanker movements outside the Strait of Hormuz suggests a circumvention or adaptation of established maritime routes, particularly concerning energy flows related to geopolitical conflict. The key pattern is the use of STS transfers involving vessels with distinct ownership—GasLog, QatarEnergy affiliates, and ADNOC—to facilitate delivery that bypasses traditional choke points. This arrangement demonstrates an operational focus on maintaining supply continuity despite regional instability, which is further evidenced by the concurrent drop in LNG exports leading to increased Asian spot prices. The fact that specific tankers, including those linked to major energy entities, engaged in these transfers points toward a strategy of compartmentalizing risk and optimizing delivery logistics under high-tension conditions. This implies that operational necessity may drive logistical arrangements irrespective of the broader geopolitical friction. The focus shifts from simple transit to complex, multi-party cargo handling that suggests an emergent, resilient commercial architecture operating alongside established political constraints.
Bridge Questions: What are the specific economic calculations driving the decision to utilize these STS transfers over alternative routes? How do the differing regulatory or ownership structures of the involved entities affect liability and transparency in these rapid commodity exchanges? What is the long-term impact of such bespoke logistical arrangements on regional energy security versus global market equilibrium?
Sentinel — Human
The text reads like traditional investigative reporting, relying heavily on specific shipping data to illustrate geopolitical impacts, suggesting a human journalistic origin.