Tankers exit Strait of Hormuz with 6 million barrels of crude oil

Published May 20, 2026 Updated May 20, 2026 03:22pm

Two supertankers exited the Strait of Hormuz while another is making its way out, after waiting in the Gulf for more than two months with six million barrels of Middle East crude oil onboard, according to shipping data on London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) and Kpler, Reuters reports.

The ships are among a handful of supertankers exiting the Gulf this month via a transit route that Iran has ordered ships to use.

South Korean-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Universal Winner, carrying 2 million barrels of Kuwaiti crude loaded on March 4, is exiting the strait following the departure of two Chinese tankers on Wednesday, the data showed.

Kpler data showed the tanker is heading to Ulsan, where the country’s largest refiner SK Energy is located, to discharge its cargo on June 9.

Chinese-flagged VLCC Yuan Gui Yang loaded two million barrels of Iraqi Basrah crude on February 27, a day before the US-Israel war on Iran started, the data showed.

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, the data showed.

 This screengrab from MarineTraffic shows the location of South Korean-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Universal Winner as of May 20, 2026.
This screengrab from MarineTraffic shows the location of South Korean-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Universal Winner as of May 20, 2026.

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