STRAIT OF HORMUZ — The Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned Very Large Crude Carrier Idemitsu Maru passed through the Strait of Hormuz on its way to Nagoya carrying 2 million barrels of oil from Saudi Arabia. The vessel is the first Japanese oil tanker to transit the strait since the start of the war on Iran.

The Idemitsu Maru is now in the Gulf of Oman and is expected to arrive in Japan on May 18, according to maritime analytics provider Marine Traffic. Idemitsu Kosan has not commented on the report. More than 40 Japanese vessels remain in the Persian Gulf.

Earlier in the year, the liquefied natural gas tanker Sohar LNG and the liquefied petroleum gas tanker Green Sanvi, both owned by Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K., exited the Persian Gulf in early April. The suffix "Maru," meaning circle or ring, is often attached to the name of a Japanese ship.

The Japanese government has been in talks with Iranian officials for the past two months about ending hostilities and opening the Strait of Hormuz. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi met the Iranian ambassador to Tokyo on March 2, and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi held a telephone conference with Iranian President Pezeshkian on April 8. Motegi spoke by telephone with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi on April 15. The Japanese government has maintained a low-profile relationship with Iran since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

The voyage echoes events from the early 1950s. In 1951, Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh nationalized British oil interests, and the British navy blockaded the Iranian oil port of Abadan at the head of the Persian Gulf. After the US-led military occupation of Japan ended in 1952, Idemitsu Kosan began importing high-octane gasoline from California, but US oil majors cut off gasoline supplies to Japan to maintain control of the Japanese market.

Idemitsu Kosan founder Sazo Idemitsu turned to Iran for gasoline imports. After negotiations, the Idemitsu-owned tanker Nissho Maru sailed for the Iranian port of Abadan in March 1953 and entered the port undetected. The arrival was reported worldwide and made front pages in Japan. In April 1953, the Nissho Maru departed Abadan fully loaded, evaded the blockade and returned to Japan. The British allowed the tanker to pass without stopping it.

Japanese writer and nationalist politician Naoki Hyakuta published a novel based on those events, entitled "Kaizoku to yobareta otoko" ("A Man Called Pirate"), in 2012. The novel was adapted into a movie in 2016.