In a development that has given hope of normalcy returning across the Strait of Hormuz, LNG carrier Umm Al Ashtan, which had departed Dahej in Gujarat after unloading its cargo there, is heading up towards crossing the strait. The vessel, which had finished cargo operations early in March and had been drifting, is likely to cross the strait early on Friday (May 1) and make way to Das Island, an LNG terminal in the UAE.

This is among the first instance since the war started that an empty ship in ballast condition is sailing upstream of the Strait of Hormuz to load cargo even as hundreds of loaded ships are still stuck west of the strait inside the Persian Gulf.