Pakistani Tanker Defies Disruptions, Sails Through Hormuz with AIS Active
Image Source: Internet
A Pakistani oil tanker has successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz with its automatic transponder system activated, despite major disruptions to shipping in the crucial waterway from the Middle East war.
The Aframax tanker Karachi, carrying Abu Dhabi's Das crude, has become the first non-Iranian cargo to transit the chokepoint while broadcasting its AIS signal, suggesting that select shipments may be receiving negotiated safe passage.
According to Marine Traffic, the 237-metre-long Pakistani-flagged oil tanker had a draft of 11.5 metres, indicating it was heavy and likely loaded.
The transit follows weeks of significantly reduced traffic through the strategic waterway.
With one-fifth of global oil production and liquefied natural gas passing through the Strait of Hormuz in normal times, Tehran has targeted the waterway in retaliation for Israeli-US strikes, aiming to hurt the global economy to put pressure on Washington.
