Tankers exit Gulf via Strait of Hormuz as US-Iran talks begin
Talks between US and Iranian officials lasted for two hours before the delegations broke for a rest, according to a Pakistani source.
Three supertankers passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, shipping data showed, marking what appeared to be the first vessels to exit the Gulf since the US-Iran ceasefire deal and as peace talks got under way in Pakistan.
Tehran's blockade of the strait, a chokepoint for about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, since the start of the Iran war at the end of February has disrupted global energy supplies and sent oil prices soaring.
The Liberia-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Serifos and China-flagged VLCCs Cospearl Lake and He Rong Hai, entered and exited the "Hormuz Passage trial anchorage" that bypasses Iran's Larak Island on Saturday, LSEG data showed.
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Each vessel is capable of carrying two million barrels of oil.
Serifos, carrying crude loaded from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in early March, is expected to arrive at Malaysia's Malacca port on 21 April, data from LSEG and analytics firm Kpler showed.
Cospearl Lake is laden with Iraqi oil and He Rong Hai is carrying Saudi crude, the same data showed.
Both VLCCs are chartered by Unipec, the trading arm of Chinese energy giant Sinopec, the data showed.
Sinopec did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside office hours.
Meanwhile, the talks between Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lasted for two hours before the delegations broke for a rest, according to a Pakistani source. Pakistan's army chief was also present.
