Vietnam's state oil trader PetroVietnam Oil has appealed to the US Navy to allow a supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude to continue its voyage to Vietnam, after the vessel was redirected amid the US's expanded blockade in the Gulf, Reuters reported Wednesday.
The Maltese-flagged Agio Fanourios I exited the Strait of Hormuz on May 10 before making a U-turn in the Gulf of Oman a day later, according to ship-tracking data on the MarineTraffic. The US Central Command said the vessel was redirected as part of measures linked to sanctions enforcement against Iran, the news agency said.
In a May 12 letter, PVOIL warned that delays could disrupt operations at Vietnam's Nghi Son refinery, saying feedstock inventories were running critically low. The company stressed the cargo was Iraqi Basra crude supplied by Iraq's state marketer SOMO and not linked to Iranian oil, Reuters said.
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