Thailand agreed with Iran to let its oil tankers pass through Hormuz, one ship has already passed through the strait
Thailand announced on Saturday that it had reached an agreement with Iran to allow its oil tankers to pass “in complete safety” through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been virtually paralyzed since the start of the Middle East war, reports France Presse.
This will help “allay concerns about fuel shipments to Thailand,” Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told a news conference.
“With this agreement, we are confident that we will no longer have to deal with disruptions like those seen in early March,” he added.
Thailand has argued to Iran that it is “not a party to the conflict and has the right to safe maritime transit under international law,” Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said.
“Under the current mechanism, Thailand will inform Iran in advance of any ship passing through the strait and Iran will respond accordingly,” he said, noting that a Thai oil tanker has already passed through the strait under the agreement and that others are preparing to do the same.
Queues and high prices at gas stations in Thailand
The countries of Southeast Asia are badly affected by the fuel supply difficulties caused by the war in the Middle East, which started a month ago.
After initially being capped at 30 baht (0.79 euros) per liter by the government, the price of diesel rose this week by 6 baht per liter in Thailand. Shortages and queues are increasingly common at gas stations.
“I want to apologize to the population for the disruptions caused by fuel price management in the first half of March,” Anutin said.
“At first we thought the conflict would be short-lived. Now it is clear that the situation has changed and that it is likely to be prolonged,” he continued.
The recently re-elected prime minister urged Thais not to panic, saying the country of 65 million has sufficient fuel reserves.
Iran does not allow ships connected to the enemy to pass
A Thai merchant ship, the Mayuree Naree, was attacked by Iran on March 11 while sailing through the Strait of Hormuz. Three of its sailors are still missing.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced on Friday that they had forced three container ships back into the strait, saying the strategic route was henceforth closed to ships coming from or heading to ports linked to the “enemy”.
Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz dropped by 95 percent from normal between March 1 and 26, according to maritime monitoring platform Kpler.
Since the beginning of the month, 24 commercial ships, including 11 oil tankers, have been attacked or reported incidents in the region, according to the British Maritime Security Agency UKMTO.
