Qatari LNG Tanker Clears Hormuz for First Time Since July
Al Marrouna reached the Gulf of Oman with Port Qasim listed as its next destination
The LNG carrier Al Marrouna has passed through the Strait of Hormuz and reached the Gulf of Oman, the first visible movement of Qatari LNG out of the Gulf through the waterway since July. The ship, which loaded in Qatar early last month, was in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday morning local time with Port Qasim in Pakistan listed as its next destination and a possible arrival on Thursday. It transmitted its position throughout the passage.
Several empty Qatari LNG carriers have also started moving back towards the Persian Gulf, which suggests ships are being positioned for further loadings. Whether regular exports resume is a separate question, and one transit does not answer it.
Qatar stopped sending LNG through the strait after one of its tankers was attacked in late July. Before the war the country accounted for roughly a fifth of global LNG exports, and the interruption has been felt in the gas markets: prices in Europe and Asia have reached their highest levels in more than three years in recent days, after fresh strikes on vessels in the region and the continued absence of Qatari cargoes. Departures from the Persian Gulf remain well below the earlier level of about three shipments a day.
Production has not stopped. QatarEnergy has continued loading LNG onto empty tankers inside the Gulf, with some volumes sent to Kuwait, which lets the producer manage storage and keep parts of its export facilities running at minimum rates. Keeping the trains warm also shortens the time needed to lift output again if the situation at the strait improves. The company last month extended force majeure on deliveries to European and Asian buyers into October, a step that has helped hold prices up.
A resumption of Qatari volumes would matter most in South Asia, where buyers have been dealing with shortages and power cuts. Pakistan and its neighbours have limited alternatives at short notice, and the freight to move spot cargoes from the Atlantic basin is expensive when it is available at all.
Iran said on Monday that an agreement with Oman on managing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was close. That would be the mechanism under which traffic normalises, if it does. For now the evidence is one laden LNG carrier, a set of empty ships heading back in, and a force majeure that still runs to the end of October.
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 14 September 2026.
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