Greeek shipping magnate George Prokopiou’s Dynacom Tankers Management is continuing to trade through the Gulf, despite the security risks and disrupted shipping patterns in the Strait of Hormuz, with another tanker now recorded as having made the passage.
According to TradeWinds, the Malta-flagged Suezmax Odessa, a 150,000-dwt tanker built in 2013, passed through the strait on April 13, the same day the United States moved to enforce a blockade targeting Iranian ports.
The vessel later reappeared near Fujairah after its AIS signal had gone dark during the voyage, emphasising the strained operating conditions in the region.
Dynacom had already seen another tanker, the Athina, leave the Gulf after departing Bahrain earlier this month, while TradeWinds said six ships under the company’s management have entered the Persian Gulf since late February. Earlier in the crisis, the Dynacom-managed Pola was also among the first tankers to complete a successful transit.
A separate Greek-linked operation, meanwhile, pointed to a different way of coping with the disruption. It is reported that Tsakos Energy Navigation’s 105,000-dwt aframax Asahi Princess loaded Iraqi fuel oil in Syria after the cargo had been trucked overland, emphasising efforts to bypass Hormuz altogether when direct Gulf exports remain difficult.
The broader traffic picture nevertheless showed some improvement over the weekend. Reuters, also mentioned on Clarksons Research, reported that more than 20 ships passed through the Strait on Friday, when Iran announced the temporary opening of the passage, while another 26 passed through on Saturday, before the ban was reimposed.
These are the highest levels of transit since the crisis began on February 28. However, at least 20 ships were forced to turn back, including containerships, tankers and LNG carriers.
