A transshipped ammonia cargo loaded in the Gulf of Oman on Sunday, according to data from vessel tracking firm Kpler.
A medium-sized ammonia carrier was identified inside the strait of Hormuz after the vessel was acquired by Saudi Arabian owner Bahri. A shipment of about 25,500t was then likely loaded on the vessel from Saudi Arabia and exported.
Following a ship-to-ship transfer (STS) with the Searambler, the Saudi Arabian cargo is now expected to deliver to Paradip, India, by 20 October, according to Kpler.
The delivery will most likely serve contract customers in India who have so far been unable to receive Saudi volumes largely since March. Saudi Arabian producers delivered more than 1mn t to India in 2025. That figure has fallen to just 146,000t so far this year.
This shipment is the first non-Iranian vessel to attempt ammonia loading during the war, a move that most owners have so far deemed too risky given ammonia's toxicity and potential explosivity while vessels in the crucial waterway continue to sustain attacks.
Iran has this week renewed threats against vessels which opt to turn off their navigation and identification systems in the waterway and are viewed as hostile. Meanwhile, Yemeni militant Houthis have over the weekend intensified attacks against Saudi Arabian infrastructure with strikes on King Khalid International airport in Riyadh.
But the recent STS manoeuvre follows similar efforts in other markets such as LNG, LPG and crude, all of which have been utilising STS transfers to enable strait of Hormuz exports despite security risks.
