Aug. 18 at 1:05 PM
$VG BREAKING: Chinese shipping giants COSCO and CMES have halted all oil tanker transport through both the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, per Reuters, citing industry executives, tanker trackers and a ship broker.
The two shippers together control more than 100 VLCCs (each capable of carrying 2 million barrels) and handled roughly half of China’s crude imports from the Middle East before the Iran war began. These are among the world’s largest shipping groups, with COSCO the biggest overall by fleet capacity.
The decision by both shippers followed direct communications with Chinese central authorities, with CMES already telling investors in late July that its vessels would not enter the Strait of Hormuz "for a long time."
