The Strait of Hormuz, effectively closed to most liquefied natural gas tankers since 28 February, saw its first Qatari export pass through on or around 10 May, according to ship-tracking data. The vessel, the Al Kharaitiyat, had loaded at Qatar's Ras Laffan export plant earlier in the month and is listed by Equasis as owned by Nakilat; tracking shows it reached the Gulf of Oman and is bound for Pakistan. This passage matters because the waterway's effective closure forced a major rerouting of global LNG flows and helped push Asian and European gas prices higher; the Al Kharaitiyat's scheduled delivery to Pakistan is the immediate milestone markets will use to judge whether a Gulf-LNG corridor can be sustained under current security arrangements.
Qatar dispatched the liquefied natural gas tanker Al Kharaitiyat through the Strait of Hormuz on or around 10 May 2026, completing what ship-tracking data show was the country's first export to transit the waterway since open hostilities began at the end of February. The vessel had loaded at the Ras Laffan export plant earlier in the month and, according to Equasis data, is owned by Nakilat. Tracking records indicate the ship had reached the Gulf of Oman and is listed as bound for Pakistan.
Why this transit matters
The passage is more than a navigational detail. Since 28 February, the Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed to most LNG tankers, removing a substantial share of Gulf export capacity from direct shipment through the waterway and forcing global trade to reroute. Market commentary cited in one analysis estimated that roughly 20% of daily global LNG flows were trapped, a factor that helped push benchmark gas prices in Asia and Europe to multi-year highs and prompted some buyers to burn alternative fuels or to pay sharply higher spot prices for cargoes.
U.S. Exporters have raised shipments and, by some measures, offset the immediate shortfall from Qatar in nominal tonnage so far this year. Analysts quoted in market reporting warn, though, that American output can't be sustained at emergency levels indefinitely because of routine maintenance cycles and seasonal hurricane risk in the Gulf of Mexico.
What the tracking shows and the uncertainties
Ship-tracking databases compiled by Bloomberg show the Al Kharaitiyat sailed via the Tehran-approved northern corridor that follows the Iranian coast and passed Larak Island, the route Iran has signalled it permits for commercial traffic. That routing was reflected in the vessel's courses recorded in contemporaneous feeds and republished by other outlets.
Equasis data identify Nakilat as the vessel owner, a detail widely reported alongside the movement. At least three accounts agree the ship had loaded at Ras Laffan earlier in May and that its immediate destination is Pakistan, making the cargo a tangible test case for whether Gulf exports can resume through Hormuz under current arrangements.
There are contradictions in live reporting about the exact moment the ship cleared the strait. One Bloomberg-based feed initially recorded the Al Kharaitiyat as attempting transit, placing it between Oman and Iran, while later updates from the same wire and republishers said the vessel had cleared the strait and reached the Gulf of Oman.
That timing discrepancy reflects the difficulty of reconciling near-real-time signals with later verified positions.
The shipment also follows at least two other LNG tankers loaded in Abu Dhabi that have successfully traversed the strait since the conflict began. Analysts who have followed the movements describe these passages as tentative rather than a return to pre-war shipping volumes, which amounted to roughly three shipments a day through the strait before hostilities.
Monthly export statistics already show visible supply-chain shifts. Industry data cited by analysts point to a 7.0 million ton increase in U.S. Deliveries for January-April compared with an estimated 6.93 million ton decline from Qatari exports in the same period. Those figures underline how quickly global LNG trade adapted to the disruption, even as costs and logistical strain increased.
The human and maritime costs of the effective blockade have been severe. Aid groups and seafarer organisations say roughly 20,000 seafarers have been stranded, and the International Maritime Organization has recorded at least 11 seafarer deaths linked to incidents in the Gulf, according to reporting by India Today. A head of a UK-based seafarers charity cited in that account described crews as traumatised and fearful after repeated strikes, boardings and long waits for repatriation or safe passage.
For traders and governments, the Al Kharaitiyat's voyage is both a practical test and a symbolic one. If the cargo completes its voyage to Pakistan, it will be cited as evidence that a narrow corridor through Hormuz can operate for commercial LNG. If other tankers follow from Abu Dhabi and Qatar in the coming days, that will add weight to the view that the recent transits are more than isolated exceptions.
Ship-tracking records list Pakistan as the Al Kharaitiyat's next port of call, making that scheduled delivery the immediate, concrete milestone markets and shippers will use to judge whether Gulf-LNG exports can resume through the Strait of Hormuz.
This article was created with AI assistance.
