Washington: A liquefied petroleum gas carrier, which has previously ferried Iranian cargoes, has sailed past the blockade boundary announced last month by the US Navy.
Very large gas carrier Tara Gas crossed the formal US line — stretching from Oman’s Ras al Hadd to the Iran-Pakistan border — late on Tuesday and is currently sailing in a southeasterly direction in the Arabian Sea, ship-tracking data show.
Since the US declared it would impose a blockade in response to Iran’s tightening grip on the Strait of Hormuz, warships have intercepted some vessels well beyond this point, but the line remains a guide for ship captains and owners. At least one oil tanker appears to have slipped past altogether.
Shipping across the Middle East has been upended ever since the US and Israel began strikes on Iran at the end of February. Vessels looking to transit the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman now have to consider competing demands from both countries’ navies, or face the risks of being attacked or getting seized.
Tara Gas has been singled out by advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran and some US senators under its former name, Gas Global, for its links to Iran. For its current voyage, Tara Gas lifted Iranian liquefied petroleum gas in early May, according to current assessments from ship-tracking platforms Kpler and Vortexa.
The US Central Command said Tuesday it has redirected 65 commercial vessels and disabled four since the blockade began.
The VLGC’s owner is listed as Global Gas Inc., which is based in the United Arab Emirates, according to database Equasis. Its manager is listed as Matrix Maritime Solutions FZE, which shares Global Gas’s address. Matrix Maritime Solutions didn’t answer a call made to its listed phone number.