SINGAPORE — Two China-flagged very large crude carriers and a third laden supertanker passed through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, giving the waterway its clearest reopening signal since a U.S.-Iran ceasefire took hold. The passage matters because it shows that loaded cargoes can move again through the chokepoint, even as mine risks, military oversight, insurer caution and failed diplomacy continue to shadow every voyage, April 12.
According to Reuters shipping data, the tankers were the Liberia-flagged Serifos and the China-flagged Cospearl Lake and He Rong Hai. Cospearl Lake is carrying Iraqi crude and is expected to reach Zhoushan on May 1, while both Chinese vessels were chartered by Unipec, the trading arm of Sinopec. That makes the weekend passage more than symbolic: it is an early test of whether Asian buyers will resume using the route at scale.
Strait of Hormuz reopening still looks fragile
The rebound is starting from an exceptionally low base. Reuters reported that traffic through the strait had fallen to well below 10% of normal earlier in the week, with just seven ships passing in a 24-hour stretch versus roughly 140 in ordinary conditions, while hundreds of tankers and other vessels remained backed up inside the Gulf. Verisk Maplecroft analyst Torbjorn Soltvedt warned that “two weeks will not be enough to clear the backlog.”
The political backdrop grew more uncertain when U.S.-Iran talks in Islamabad ended without agreement, leaving both sides to blame the other and casting new doubt on whether the ceasefire can outlast the first burst of tanker traffic. At the same time, U.S. Central Command said it had begun setting conditions for mine clearance and for a “safe pathway” to be shared with the maritime industry, underscoring that even a partial reopening still depends on security management rather than ordinary commercial practice.
Why the Strait of Hormuz matters beyond one weekend
The stakes remain far bigger than three successful transits. The International Energy Agency says about 20 million barrels a day of oil and oil products moved through Hormuz in 2025, equal to roughly a quarter of global seaborne oil trade, and about 80% of that flow headed to Asia. Alternative routes can bypass only a fraction of that volume, which is why Chinese-linked cargoes are being watched so closely by refiners, shipowners and governments alike.
Strait of Hormuz disruptions have deep roots
This weekend’s transits fit a longer pattern rather than a clean reset. Iran’s 2023 seizure of the Niovi in the strait and the 2024 seizure of the St Nikolas in nearby Gulf of Oman waters were reminders that commercial shipping in the area can become a pressure tool with little warning. What makes the current episode more consequential is the scale: this time the question is not whether one ship can be boarded, but whether a corridor central to Asia’s energy system can function at all after weeks of disruption.
What would count as a real reopening?
A genuine reopening would mean repeated two-way passage by loaded and empty tankers, restored insurer confidence, transparent routing rules and enough political stability for shipowners to move without special clearances or military-led traffic management. Until that happens, the Strait of Hormuz is open in the narrow operational sense that some ships can pass, but not yet in the commercial sense of routine, low-friction traffic.
