A Suezmax tanker identified as carrying Iraqi crude is approaching India after apparently crossing the Strait of Hormuz in recent days.
The tanker Karolos appeared in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday as it sailed away from the Strait of Hormuz toward India, reporting a draft that indicated it’s fully loaded. The ship was previously seen near Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates a week earlier, heading in the opposite direction.
The tanker is identified by ship-tracking company Kpler as carrying Iraqi crude loaded at Basra on May 10-11. An image from the European Union’s Sentinel 2 satellite shows a ship of the same colouring and dimensions at one of the Basra loading buoys on the morning of May 11.
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Observable daily commercial transits of the waterway in both directions dropped to five ships on Friday from 11 the previous day. There was a slight pick-up into Saturday morning, with six seen moving through the strait, vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show.
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Transits into and out of the Persian Gulf remain far below prewar levels as the conflict enters a 12th week. Despite frequent pronouncements from US President Donald Trump that Iran would soon capitulate, there’s no sign of the country easing its blockade of Hormuz. Tehran has made acceptance of Iran’s sovereignty over the strait one of five preconditions for rejoining talks to end the war.
Separately, the oil tanker Agios Fanourios I, halted by the US on a voyage from Iraq to Vietnam, remains in Gulf of Oman, while the very large crude carrier Kiara M, which also crossed out of the Persian Gulf after loading at Basra, appears to have completed switching its cargo onto another ship off Oman, data show.
