Japan Diversifying Shipping Routes for Middle East Oil

Tokyo, May 10 (Jiji Press)–Japan is diversifying shipping routes for crude oil from the Middle East as the effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz continues. Some tankers were confirmed to be heading for Japan, avoiding navigation through the strait. Japan is also trying to diversify oil procurement sources, looking at the United States and Russia, as the Middle East situation remains unstable. As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, 15 tankers from the Middle East and North Africa were heading for Japan, according to University of Tokyo professor Hidenori Watanabe, who analyzed data including from ship-location information website Marine Traffic. Eleven of them were crude oil tankers, three were petroleum and chemical product carriers, and the remaining one was a liquefied natural gas carrier. Some of the 15 have already arrived in Japan. The Port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, located along the Gulf of Oman, just outside the Strait of Hormuz, was the most common departure point, used by seven of the 15 vessels. The port is known as a hub for an alternative route that does not cross the strait, but it was reported Monday that an Iranian attack caused a fire in the area. Two large crude oil tankers also left a port in Yanbu, a hub along the Red Sea, on the opposite side of Saudi Arabia from the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Additionally, three tankers are heading from the Mediterranean Sea to Japan through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, and some of them appear to have loaded cargoes in Algeria. “Since late April, ships bound for Japan have been increasing using diversified routes,” Watanabe said. “Efforts are progressing to increase routes that do not pass through the Strait of Hormuz or that use bases outside the strait.” The 15 ships included the Idemitsu Maru, the only Japanese-related crude oil tanker that has crossed the blockaded strait from the Persian Gulf. The ship, affiliated with oil distributor Idemitsu Kosan Co., is scheduled to arrive at the Port of Nagoya in central Japan on May 23 after stopping at Sri Lanka. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]