Two Chinese supertankers carrying a total of four million barrels of Middle East crude oil exited the Strait of Hormuz on May 20 after waiting in the Gulf for more than two months [1, 2, 3].
The Chinese-flagged VLCC Yuan Gui Yang loaded two million barrels of Iraqi Basrah crude on February 27, a day before the US-Israeli war on Iran began [1, 2, 3]. The ship is chartered by Unipec, the trading arm of Sinopec, Asia's largest refiner [1, 2, 3]. Yuan Gui Yang is expected to arrive at Shuidong Port near Maoming city in Guangdong province on June 4 to discharge its cargo [1, 2, 3].
The Hong Kong-flagged VLCC Ocean Lily loaded one million barrels each of Qatari al-Shaheen and Iraqi Basrah crude between late February and early March [1, 2, 3]. Ocean Lily is owned by the Chinese state-owned Sinochem group [1, 2, 3]. It is scheduled to reach Quanzhou Port in eastern Fujian province on June 5 to unload its cargo [1, 2, 3].
The delayed departure from the Gulf followed the onset of regional tensions and the US-Israeli conflict with Iran. The timing of Yuan Gui Yang's loading, just before the outbreak of war on February 28, highlights the challenges faced by shipping in the region [1, 2, 3].
Yuan Gui Yang and Ocean Lily together carried four million barrels of crude oil sourced from Iraq and Qatar to China [1, 2, 3]. Their arrival at Chinese ports in early June marks the end of a prolonged detainment near the Strait of Hormuz.
