A liquefied natural gas tanker that took on cargo in Qatar earlier this month is now heading toward the Strait of Hormuz, potentially marking the first visible attempt to transit the vital waterway since July, according to shipping data. The vessel, Al Marrouna, was approaching the strait on Monday with Pakistan's Port Qasim listed as its next destination, with an estimated arrival time of Thursday. It remains unclear whether the ship will proceed with a full crossing of the strategic chokepoint.

The journey comes more than two months after another Qatari LNG carrier was attacked in the region, which made such transits exceedingly rare. In recent days, multiple empty Qatari LNG vessels have begun sailing back toward the Persian Gulf, a signal that Qatar may be repositioning its fleet to prepare for potential export resumption through the Strait of Hormuz, despite heightened US-Iran tensions in the area.

Qatar has historically supplied roughly one-fifth of global LNG, but its exports have ground to a near halt since a tanker was struck in late July. Last month, the country extended force majeure declarations on LNG deliveries to European and Asian buyers through the autumn, which has helped keep natural gas prices elevated across international markets.

Even amid the disruption, Qatar has continued loading cargoes from idle LNG carriers within the Persian Gulf and exporting fuel to Kuwait as a way to manage inventories while keeping its vast LNG export facilities running at minimum operational levels. Maintaining some level of production is key to preserving equipment readiness, and it will also allow QatarEnergy to ramp up output more swiftly once tensions in the Strait of Hormuz begin to subside.