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.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]