Seatrade-Maritime: Two Chinese VLCCs cross the Strait of Hormuz

Published by Seatrade-Maritime

Two laden Chinese-owned VLCCs appeared to cross the Strait of Hormuz exiting the Arabian Gulf on 19 May, while a South Korean tanker is also transiting today.

The Hong Kong-flagged, 299,170 dwt Ocean Lily operated by Sinochem, and the Chinese-flagged, 319,702 dwt Yuan Gui Yang owned by Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation were shown having transited the Strait of Hormuz out of the Arabian Gulf on 19 May based on AIS data from Pole Star Global and other tracking services.

Meanwhile the laden South Korean-flagged, 299,981 dwt, Universal Winner appears to be mid-transit at the time of writing on 20 May. The Universal Winner is owned and operated by HMM and is broadcasting as enroute to the Port of Ulsan.

The Ocean Lily and Yuan Gui Yang followed the route close to Larak Island prescribed by the Iranian authorities, which runs north of the internationally designated traffic separation scheme (TSS), and stopped transmitting AIS signals as they headed into the Gulf of Oman. The HMM VLCC Universal Winner is following the same route.

The Ocean Lily is broadcasting a destination of Quanzhou in China, although also broadcast as “Chinese owned ship” during the Strait of Hormuz transit. The Yuan Gui Yang broadcast its destination as Shui Dong port in South China. The two Chinese tankers will have to cross the US blockade at the edge of the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, however neither vessel appears to have called at Iranian ports which would make them subject to the blockade.

According to data from Pole Star Global’s PurpleTrac database both vessels entered the Gulf shortly before the conflict between US – Israel and Iran started on 28 February. The Ocean Lily appeared to load a cargo of crude in Basrah, Iraq on 27 February, while the Yuan Gui Yang also appeared to load in Basrah, Iraq on 3 March. The Universal Winner transited into the Gulf on 27 February.

Another HMM ship the 38,000 dwt multipurpose vessel HMM Namu was struck twice in quick succession while at anchor OPL of Umm Al Quwain, UAE on 4 May. The attack punctured the vessel’s hull and damaged the engine room. Iran has denied responsibility for the attack.