Japanese refiners return to Middle East crude via ship transfers

Japanese oil tankers are collecting crude cargoes through ship-to-ship transfers offshore Oman and Fujairah, without transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The transfers involve Japan-linked vessels returning to the region, according to shipbrokers and tanker-tracking data cited by Bloomberg on 4 October.

Transfer volumes rise in Gulf of Oman#

Japanese ship owners and refiners transferred higher volumes of crude outside the Persian Gulf this month than in similar operations elsewhere along the route to Japan, according to Kpler data. The first ship-to-ship transfer in the Middle East involving Japan-bound cargoes took place in August, with volumes rising since then. For seven months prior, Japan-linked tankers that were not trapped behind Hormuz avoided the Middle East and picked up cargoes in transfers offshore India or Southeast Asia.

Iraq ships crude beyond Hormuz for first time in decades#

Iraq's state-run Iraqi Oil Tankers Company transported 2 million barrels of crude on a very large crude carrier beyond the Strait of Hormuz for the first time in decades, director general Ali Qais told the Iraqi News Agency on 4 October. The task was assigned to the company for the first time in decades, shifting part of Iraqi oil sales from the previous free on board Basra port model to delivery outside the strait. The company is now in talks to purchase and own specialised crude tankers and to compete with regional peers, Qais said.

Abu Dhabi operators shuttle containers through Hormuz#

Abu Dhabi-backed shipping companies are shuttling container cargo through the Strait of Hormuz using smaller feeder ships, mirroring the tanker shuttle model used by oil producers. Six of the seven non-Iranian container crossings recorded in the week ending 20 September were undertaken by Abu Dhabi-backed operators, according to Lloyd's List deputy editor Linton Nightingale. A further four crossings earlier in September were also linked to the UAE capital. The cost of shipping a loaded 40-foot container from China has risen by about 600 percent, from about $850 before the US-Iran conflict to more than $6,000.

Mitsui expects prolonged Hormuz disruption#

Japan's Mitsui OSK Lines, the world's largest tanker operator, said in September it expects the shipping disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz to continue for longer than previously expected, with no normalisation by the end of the year. Japanese refiners and ship owners remain extremely cautious in Middle East voyages and are not attempting Hormuz transits into the Gulf, but are willing to pick up more Middle East cargoes and optimise shipping costs through ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman.