Kyodo: three Japan-linked ships have left the Persian Gulf via the Iranian route

Japan's Kyodo News agency reported, in coverage carried on Wednesday 29 July 2026, that three Japan-linked vessels have left the Persian Gulf via the Iranian route. The first Japanese tanker to transit the Strait of Hormuz since the attacks on Iran began was a vessel operated by Idemitsu Kosan, which received clearance to leave in the Iranian month of Ordibehesht and berthed on Japan's coast in early Khordad.

Japan is heavily dependent on imported oil and, with Bab al-Mandab closed to Saudi-linked shipping, has been forced to route vessels out of the Red Sea via the longer Suez Canal passage. Bloomberg reported that a cargo of cooking fuel originally due to reach Japan in mid-Mordad is now likely to arrive in the first week of Mehr.

The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively blocked since late February 2026, and any sign of traffic resuming matters for global oil markets and marine insurance rates.