A tanker laden with crude oil appears to have cleared the Strait of Hormuz and is now sailing to Pakistan, according to ship-tracking data, making it the latest in just a trickle of vessels that have left the Persian Gulf since US and Israeli strikes on Iran began.
The Karachi, controlled by Pakistan's National Shipping Corp., made the perilous journey over the course of Sunday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. By Monday morning, the Pakistan-flagged Aframax was seen in the waters off Oman's Sohar. The ship sailed from Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates last month and picked up a cargo from inside the Persian Gulf a few days later, the data show.
A spokesperson for Pakistan National Shipping Corp. said Karachi left the port of Fujairah on Feb. 25 and is in the open seas. It will arrive in Pakistan on March 18, they added.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been all but halted since the war in the Middle East began last month. Traders have been closely watching vessels that make their way through the waterway as they try to gauge how many barrels can still make their way through the chokepoint, which typically handles about a fifth of the world's oil.
The 2022-built Karachi made its way across Hormuz and around Iran's Larak Island, the vessel-tracking data show. It then proceeded eastbound close to Iran's coastline, before leaving the strait Sunday evening. Other ships leaving the strait also appear to have taken a route on the Iranian side of Hormuz.
The Karachi most recently loaded crude at Das Island in the United Arab Emirates, according to ship-tracking data. Draft readings indicate that the ship isn't fully laden.
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