For some context, Sheikh Mohammed is also one of the lead mediators in trying to facilitate discussions on the Strait of Hormuz between the US and Iran. And he says that there are certain bad actors in the waterway, posing to be IRGC and using shipping communications to warn vessels to turn back.
As such, he says that it is vital for the US and Iran to establish a hotline to prevent these bad actors from stopping the reopening of the strait.
“The hotline’s purpose is to make sure that any ship that gets any type of threat is to be verified by Iran.. and to let the ship pass safely.”
The good news for Qatar is that they are already starting to see some LNG tanker work their way through the Strait of Hormuz yesterday. Of note, four major QatarEnergy-controlled LNG tankers entered the strait on Monday. So, that’s a big win to try and at least get things moving – even if gradually – to begin with.
They have been dealt a blow over the weekend with the Ras Laffan facility being damaged from a “technical” issue. But Qatar’s prime minister is quick to reassure that things should be able to come back up quickly, should the peace hold.
“Within a few weeks, production will come back to normal, except the damaged facility. QatarEnergy is preparing for operations to come back to normal as soon as the situation in the strait normalises.”
The full article can be found here (may be gated).
For now, it’s a good start with ship tracking data estimating 36 to 40 vessels crossing the strait yesterday. However, we’ll have to see how much more things will pick up in the coming days/weeks and if it will match with the numbers that both the US and Iran are claiming.
This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.
