KARACHI: The Pakistani oil tanker, MT Karachi, has become the first non-Iranian commercial vessel to successfully navigate the Strait of Hormuz with active tracking since the ongoing regional conflict put the world’s most critical oil chokepoint to a complete halt.
The Aframax-class tanker, carrying 73,000 tons of crude oil sourced from Das Island in the UAE, docked at the KPT oil terminal. However, the voyage of MT Karachi, with active tracking, distinguished it from dozens of so-called “dark ships” that have crossed the strait with disabled tracking to evade detection since the conflict began on February 28. However, the MT Karachi kept its tracking system fully active throughout the crossing, confirmed by Marine Traffic.
The tanker navigated through Iranian territorial waters of the strait, currently the most heavily monitored passage, under a high-level diplomatic arrangement between Islamabad and Tehran. Since February 28, the daily number of vessels transiting through the strait has come down to almost negligible from an average of 138 ships per day. Shipping lines have formally suspended their operations in the Strait, ordering their vessels to shelter at designated anchorages.
Reports suggested that as many as 18 ships were attacked with multiple casualties during the last 19 days, and China, India, and Turkey secured diplomatic carve-outs, but no public document is available for confirmation.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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