Second Japan-linked Oil Tanker Sails Via Strait of Hormuz as PM Asks Iran to Help Out

By Katya Golubkova and Florence Tan

TOKYO, May 14 (Reuters) – A Panama-flagged crude oil tanker managed by Japanese refining group Eneos 5020.T has passed through the Strait of Hormuz, ship-tracking data from LSEG showed on Thursday, the second instance of such a Japan-linked oil ship making it through.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has directly contacted Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to allow for the transit of the ship, which has four Japanese crew members onboard, she said in a post on X.

Before the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran largely disrupted oil supplies via the Strait of Hormuz, Japan relied on the