Third Japanese Tanker Passes Through Strait of Hormuz

JAKARTA - A Japanese shipping company said that a unit of an Indian-flagged tanker owned by its subsidiary had passed through the Strait of Hormuz.

The ship crossed the strait, a supply route for 20 percent of the world's global crude oil consumption, on Monday, April 6. It is currently en route to the South Asian country.

A spokesman for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines told AFP that the LPG tanker Green Asha had crossed the strait.

"Both the crew and the cargo are safe," he said.

Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US-Israeli attack that began on February 28.

The near closure of this international route has caused a disruption in fuel supplies and a surge in energy prices around the world.

This is the third ship associated with Japan that can cross the strait.

On Saturday, the Indian government said the LPG tanker Green Sanvi, which is also owned by a Japanese subsidiary of Mitsui, had safely crossed the strait.

A day earlier, three tankers, including one jointly owned by Mitsui, crossed the strait.

Mitsui's Sohar LNG vessel is the first LNG tanker to cross the strait since March 1.