A very large crude carrier (VLCC) owned by Korean shipping company Sinokor (Jang Geum Sang Sun) has safely passed through the Strait of Hormuz amid the prolonged closure of the waterway caused by the war between the United States and Iran, drawing attention.
Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing shipping data from Kpler and the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), that three tankers were confirmed to have exited the Strait of Hormuz earlier this month with their location tracking devices switched off. The vessels that passed through the strait were Sinokor's Basra Energy, as well as Agios Fanourios I and Kiara M — all VLCCs.
Sinokor's Basra Energy loaded 2 million barrels of crude oil on the 1st at the Zirku crude export terminal operated by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and passed through the Strait of Hormuz on the 6th. The ship then unloaded its cargo on the 8th at the UAE's Fujairah crude oil terminal, located outside the strait. The company that chartered the vessel has not yet been identified. However, the ship is leased by Sinokor to another company and is not included in the 26 Korea-related vessels managed by the Korean government. There are no Korean crew members aboard.
Agios Fanourios I, another vessel that passed through the strait, is scheduled to unload crude oil at Vietnam's Nghi Son refinery on the 26th of this month. The destination of the Kiara M, which sails under a San Marino flag, is unknown. The vessel, owned by a Marshall Islands-registered entity, is managed by a Shanghai-based Chinese company. Reuters said the passage of the three tankers through the Strait of Hormuz shows that moves to maintain Middle Eastern crude oil exports are increasing.
Meanwhile, Sinokor is reported to have deployed at least six empty tankers in the Persian Gulf on standby for four weeks starting in late January this year. Industry observers have suggested that while Sinokor's tankers were stranded in the Persian Gulf due to the Iran war, they likely reaped enormous profits by serving as "floating storage" for crude oil from Gulf producers whose export routes had been blocked.
Sinokor is known to have built formidable market influence in recent years by making bold "bets," steadily acquiring or chartering tankers. As of the end of last month, the number of VLCCs controlled by Sinokor is estimated to be around 150.
