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3 Ships Carrying 2 Million Barrels Crude Each Exit Strait of Hormuz, Reuters Analysis Shows

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Three very large crude carriers, carrying 2 million barrels of crude each, passed through the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway recently, with tracking devices shut down to avoid an attack from Iran, Reuters reported Monday, citing Kpler and LSEG data.

VLCCs Agios Fanourios I and Kiara M, both carrying the Iraqi crude, exited Hormuz on Sunday, while the tanker Basrah Energy, loaded with Upper Zakum crude, exited the waterway on May 6, the report said.

Agios Fanourios I, which was unsuccessful in crossing the Strait on at least two previous occasions, is moving towards Vietnam with its cargo expected to be unloaded at the Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical facility on May 26. The destination of the San Marino-flagged Kiara M, managed by a Shanghai-based firm and owned by an Marshall Islands-registered firm, was unknown, the report said.

The Panama-flagged Basrah Energy was loaded with Upper Zakum crude from Abu Dhabi National Oil's Zirku terminal on May 1, which was discharged at the Fujairah Oil Tanker Terminals on May 8, it added.

Meanwhile, renewed attacks by Iran on neighboring countries has likely resulted in signal interference as geolocation tracking data for some ships in the Persian Gulf indicated positions and speeds that could not be explained, Bloomberg reported Monday.

According to the data, about 120 ships, located in a circle about an hour's drive inland from Abu Dhabi, appeared to be moving at about 50 knots without changing location, while a smaller group of about a dozen ships near the Oman-UAE border was shown moving at over 100 knots, Bloomberg reported.

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