Chinese Oil Tankers Stall Near Hormuz Awaiting Tehran's Clearance
The Cospearl Lake — a large crude carrier linked to China's state-owned Cosco Shipping Corp. — and the He Rong Hai, operated by a smaller firm, surged eastward at high speed in the early hours of Thursday before decelerating to near-standstill, the tracking data revealed. The two vessels could potentially become the first ships to navigate the Persian Gulf under the day-old US-Iran ceasefire agreement.
Notably, both tankers are broadcasting Chinese ownership on their tracking systems — a designation typically displayed during Iran-sanctioned transits.
The vessels form part of a widening cluster of ships massing near the strait's entrance off the UAE coastline. A Saudi Arabian-flagged supertanker, the Jaham, also pushed eastward into a holding zone off Dubai, joining two fully laden Indian-flagged VLCCs — the Desh Vibhor and Desh Vaibhav — which have been anchored in the area since late March.
The growing congregation of tankers points to a cautious readiness among some shipowners to test a potential reopening of the chokepoint after weeks of severe disruption — though transit terms remain opaque. While Washington and Tehran agreed to halt hostilities in exchange for restoring passage through the strait, few operational details have surfaced. Ongoing Israeli strikes in Lebanon have further cast doubt on the ceasefire's durability and scope.
The truce has so far produced little visible shift in Hormuz traffic patterns. On Wednesday, just four vessels were permitted through — the lowest single-day figure recorded in April, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data cited by the Wall Street Journal. Before the conflict erupted, more than 100 ships transited the strait each day without requiring clearance from Iranian authorities.
Tehran signaled it intends to maintain that authority. In radio transmissions broadcast Wednesday, Iran warned mariners that passage through Hormuz still requires explicit permission from Tehran. Iranian state media further reported that the country has established designated shipping lanes for both inbound and outbound traffic, with vessels directed to navigate around Larak Island.
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