Another dark QatarEnergy LNG carrier exits Hormuz

Market: Natural gas
29/09/26

At least one LNG carrier operated by state-owned QatarEnergy (QE) appears to have transited the strait of Hormuz late on 28 September with its live location turned off, based on the vessel's Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals recorded on 29 September.

The 216,200m³ Al Kharaitiyat, a Q-Flex carrier, transmitted an AIS signal in the Arabian Sea off India's west coast in the early hours of 29 September, according to ship-tracking data from Kpler. It is still unclear where the cargo is headed.

The vessel's previous signal was recorded on 23 September near Qatar's now 64.2mn t/yr Ras Laffan terminal. The latest movement brings the total number of visible QE transits so far this month to 14.

The vessel loaded cargo on 19 September. Under normal operating conditions, a voyage from Ras Laffan to India's 5mn t/yr Kochi LNG terminal would typically take around a week. Kochi is located on India's southwestern coast.

Separately, the QE-operated 263,000m³ Al Samriya, which exited the strait of Hormuz some weeks ago, most recently transmitted its location offshore of Singapore on 29 September.

About 14 vessels still remain in the Middle East Gulf, according to Kpler data. Of these, only three were not loaded as of 29 September.

By Naomi Ong

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