Chinese tankers continue transit through Strait of Hormuz

Two Chinese supertankers carrying around 4 million barrels of Iraqi crude oil have passed through the Strait of Hormuz this month, Reuters reports, citing data from LSEG and Kpler.

The vessels were among a small number of very large crude carriers (VLCCs) to depart the Persian Gulf, despite ongoing tensions surrounding the strategic waterway and US-led efforts to enforce maritime restrictions related to Iran.

The Strait of Hormuz remains under heavily disrupted and high-risk navigation conditions due to ongoing regional conflict and shifting security control in the Persian Gulf. According to maritime tracking and industry analysis, vessel traffic has dropped sharply compared with normal levels, with insurers still treating the area as a high war-risk zone and charging significantly higher premiums or refusing coverage altogether.

Even when passage is possible, shipping companies often reroute vessels or delay transit because mines, armed incidents, and unpredictable military enforcement have made standard navigation planning unreliable.

As a result, global oil flows through the strait remain structurally constrained, with many carriers either waiting in holding patterns or diverting around Africa to avoid exposure to the chokepoint.

By Jeyhun Aghazada