Japan-linked vessel exits Persian Gulf through Hormuz after blockade eased

A Japan-related vessel detained in the Persian Gulf successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz and is now sailing toward Japan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Friday, after the lifting of an effective blockade that had disrupted shipping through the key energy chokepoint for about three months.

“On June 19, one Japanese-related vessel that had been detained in the Persian Gulf successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz, exited the Persian Gulf, and is now sailing toward Japan,” Takaichi said on the US social media firm X.

She added that three Japanese crew members were on board.

The Japan News reported that a Saudi Arabia-flagged crude oil tanker bound for Kiire in Kagoshima City resumed transmitting its location Thursday in the Gulf of Oman, east of the Strait of Hormuz.

The tanker had stopped transmitting its location in the Persian Gulf in mid-April and is believed to have resumed transmission after passing through the strait, the report said.

The newspaper also said the Tenzan, a crude oil tanker operated by a Japanese company that had been off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, headed toward the Strait of Hormuz and entered the waterway Thursday night. Government officials said some Japanese nationals were on board.

According to Japan’s Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry and other sources cited by the report, 38 Japan-related vessels remained in the Persian Gulf as of Thursday, with about 900 people on board.

“We will continue to make every diplomatic effort to ensure that all vessels pass through the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a press conference Friday morning.

The latest passage follows earlier limited movements by Japan-related ships through Hormuz during the crisis. Japan’s Foreign Ministry said a Japan-related vessel retained in the Persian Gulf exited the Gulf on May 14, leaving 39 Japan-related vessels still in the area at the time.

On April 29, another Japan-related vessel carrying three Japanese crew members passed through the strait and headed toward Japan, according to previous official and media reports.

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most important oil and gas transit routes, and the disruption had stranded dozens of Japan-linked vessels in the Gulf after maritime traffic was sharply curtailed. Japan had sourced more than 90% of its crude oil imports from the Middle East before the crisis, underscoring the strategic importance of the route for Tokyo’s energy security.