Second Japanese Oil Tanker Passes Through Strait Of Hormuz

TOKYO, May 14 (Bernama-Kyodo) -- A crude oil tanker belonging to the Eneos Holdings Inc. group has passed through the Strait of Hormuz and is headed for Japan, becoming the second Japan-bound crude oil tanker to leave the Persian Gulf since the US-Israel war on Iran, according to the company and the Japanese government.

Kyodo News Agency reported that Eneos President Tomohide Miyata told a press conference on the company's earnings results that the Eneos Endeavor, owned by its group firm Eneos Ocean Corp., had exited the key waterway and resumed its voyage to Japan.

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters at a hastily called press briefing, "No toll was paid to Iran for the passage" of the vessel with four Japanese crew members on board.

Motegi said the Japanese government had "directly requested Iran on every occasion" to enable the passage, adding that 39 Japan-linked vessels remain in the Persian Gulf.

"We will continue to make all diplomatic efforts and coordination to realise the passage through the strait as soon as possible for all vessels, including those related to Japan," he said.

Eneos' Miyata said, "We are very pleased that the vessel was able to pass through safely," while declining to disclose the timing of the passage or other details. He added that the tanker is expected to arrive in Japan between late May and early June.

According to ship-tracking website Marine Traffic and other sources, the Panama-flagged tanker left the United Arab Emirates in late February. It had remained in the Persian Gulf until recently, with Kiire port in Kagoshima Prefecture listed as its destination.

Last month, a crude oil tanker operated by a subsidiary of Japan's Idemitsu Kosan Co. transited the strait in the first such case after the United States and Israel launched joint attacks on Iran on Feb 28.

Japan relies heavily on West Asia for crude oil, and most of it passes through the Strait of Hormuz. The effective closure of the crucial waterway has sent crude oil prices surging due to supply concerns.

Eneos said the same day it expects net profit for fiscal 2026 ending next March to rise about 1.6-fold from a year earlier to 415 billion yen (US$2.7 billion), as tensions in West Asia are expected to keep crude oil prices elevated.

The company forecast operating profit will rise 30.7 per cent to 610 billion yen on sales of 12.85 trillion yen, up 9.2 per cent.

Eneos said its forecast is based on the assumption that the impact of the West Asia situation on crude procurement, production and sales will be limited to the period through May.

Meanwhile, Eneos said the West Asia situation is affecting its crude procurement and that it is cooperating with the government to diversify import sources, including those in the United States and Central Asia, and considering purchases that avoid the Strait of Hormuz.

-- BERNAMA-KYODO