Qatari LNG Carriers Re-Enter Hormuz as Traffic Through Strait Slumps Maritime Activity Reports, Inc. June 22, 2026 © moofushi / Adobe Stock Four liquefied natural gas tankers controlled by Qatar were heading into the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, despite a fall in ship traffic after Iran announced that it had again closed the waterway over the weekend, shipping data showed. The tankers - Wadi Al Sail, Mekaines, Al Sadd and Mesaimeer - were entering the strait via the Iranian route for the first time since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran started, shiptracking data from analytics firm Kpler showed. QatarEnergy, whose LNG exports have been heavily curbed since the war began on February 28, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Marshall Islands-flagged dry bulk vessel Summit Success also entered the Gulf on Monday, LSEG data showed. Five vessels passed the strait on Sunday, from 26 ships spotted a day earlier, Kpler data showed. These included three Very Large Crude Carriers carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi crude and fuel oil each, one of which was heading to Japan. There could be more ships plying the strait with their transponders switched off. Iran lifted its effective blockade of Hormuz last week after agreeing with the United States to extend an April ceasefire for 60 days to allow for peace negotiations, but Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Saturday declared the waterway shut once again, in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon. Oil Exports Moving The U.S. Central Command said 55 merchant ships transited the strait on Saturday with more than 17 million barrels of oil for global markets. Among the ships that exited the strait on Saturday, there were three VLCCs carrying crude from the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq, and there were three tankers carrying various oil products, the data showed. There were 13 ships that entered the strait on Saturday, including two VLCCs, the data showed. Over 25 million barrels of Iranian oil h