Mitsui OSK Lines expects LNG shipments through Strait of Hormuz to remain halted

One of the world’s largest shipping companies just told the global energy market to stop waiting for a return to normal. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, the Japanese shipping giant, said it does not expect LNG shipments through the Strait of Hormuz to resume anytime soon, a statement that carries serious weight given the strait handles roughly 20% of the world’s LNG and oil flows. Chairman Takeshi Hashimoto delivered the assessment at the Gastech conference in Bangkok on September 16, describing current conditions as making LNG shipments through the strait “almost impossible.” A bottleneck that won’t uncork The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean. Nearly everything that flows out of Qatar, the UAE, and other Gulf producers has to pass through it. Disruptions began in February 2026, when escalating clashes between the US and Iran turned the waterway into a high-risk zone. MOL CEO Jotaro Tamura said on September 3 that operations are “difficult to see resuming in any form by the end of the year,” effectively pushing market expectations for normalization well beyond 2026. That timeline matters. Some analysts and traders h...