The QatarEnergy controlled 266,000m³ Al Mafyar was sailing towards the strait of Hormuz from within the Mideast Gulf with its location signalling on as of 13:00 BST (12:00 GMT), ship-tracking data from Vortexa show.
The vessel departed the Ras Laffan anchorage earlier this week and was at anchor in the western Mideast Gulf on Monday. The Al Mafyar is declaring for delivery to Pakistan's 5mn t/yr Port Qasim import terminal. Iran has permitted some strait of Hormuz transits by LNG vessels for delivery to Pakistan in relation to the country's role in hosting diplomatic negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
Pakistan received two Qatari LNG cargoes in September. State-owned Pakistan LNG last issued a tender in early September, that ultimately went unawarded. The firm needs two LNG cargoes during October, Argus understands.
The Al Mafyar is a Q-Max carrier, and Pakistan has never received a Q-Max delivery, suggesting the carrier will have to transship its cargo onto a smaller carrier before delivery.
Pakistan typically seeks 140,000m³ cargoes, so assuming the Al Mafyar is fully laden, it could deliver two cargoes of around 130,000m³ each, after accounting for boil-off and vessel heel. This could be sufficient to meet Pakistan's October LNG demand.
Dark transits, STS transfers continue
The QatarEnergy-controlled 143,517m³ Al Thakhira is sailing east through the Indian Ocean, having loaded a Ras Laffan cargo via ship-to-ship (STS) transfer, ship-tracking data from Vortexa show.
The Al Thakhira has signalled every day from outside the Mideast Gulf, indicating that the vessel did not undertake a strait of Hormuz crossing in order to load its current cargo. Ship-tracking indicates that the vessel approached the anchorage offshore Oman's Sohar, where it registered a draught change. It is unclear which carrier supplied the cargo.
Satellite image data from Copernicus has indicated that some transshipments were occurring, as images in the area have shown the distinctive LNG moss-type vessels engaging in the practice.
The 210,100m³ Murwab is currently declaring for the Fujairah anchorage, and could be another candidate for taking a transshipment cargo.
