Yeah, so also, VLCCs ('very large crude carriers') that do the lion's share of global oil shipping are substantially larger than Suezmax, so if the Bab al-Mandab (the strait as the southern end of the Red Sea) is closed, you can't get those VLCCs to Yanbu. 😬
Yes, the Saudi pipeline goes to the middle of the Red Sea, and the Houthis are south of that, so they can block the Bab al Mandeb strait at the bottom, but not the Suez Canal at the top.
This isn't a total blockage like the Strait of Hormuz, but going around costs more. Adds to the supply crunch.
This isn't a total blockage like the Strait of Hormuz, but going around costs more. Adds to the supply crunch.
July 20, 2026 at 2:09 PM
Yeah, so also, VLCCs ('very large crude carriers') that do the lion's share of global oil shipping are substantially larger than Suezmax, so if the Bab al-Mandab (the strait as the southern end of the Red Sea) is closed, you can't get those VLCCs to Yanbu. 😬
20 ships is about half of one typical pre-war's day of crude carriers moving through (~36)
tHiS iS tHe JaiLbReAk
tHiS iS tHe JaiLbReAk
June 22, 2026 at 10:13 PM
20 ships is about half of one typical pre-war's day of crude carriers moving through (~36)
tHiS iS tHe JaiLbReAk
tHiS iS tHe JaiLbReAk
Even just dropping rockets of a VLCCs bow would probably be pour encourager les autres
May 4, 2026 at 2:51 AM
Even just dropping rockets of a VLCCs bow would probably be pour encourager les autres
not like ~125 ships transited hormuz daily before the war, a third of which were oil tankers, or anything. we've got two vlccs going through! we did it!! only good happen!!!
June 22, 2026 at 5:40 PM
not like ~125 ships transited hormuz daily before the war, a third of which were oil tankers, or anything. we've got two vlccs going through! we did it!! only good happen!!!
about diesel and VLCCs not aella
there’s a whole lot of charts with nearly vertical lines going around right now
September 16, 2026 at 2:51 AM
about diesel and VLCCs not aella
My OPEC told me the IRGC keep missiling his VLCCs so l asked how many VLCCs he has and he said he just goes to CHINA and gets a new VLCC afterwards so I said it sounds like he's just feeding VLCCs to the IRGC and then OPEC started crying.
March 9, 2026 at 2:30 AM
My OPEC told me the IRGC keep missiling his VLCCs so l asked how many VLCCs he has and he said he just goes to CHINA and gets a new VLCC afterwards so I said it sounds like he's just feeding VLCCs to the IRGC and then OPEC started crying.
Bloomberg terminal allows users to see “oil tanker captains sending messages to the Houthis .. basically signaling ‘don't shoot, we're not a target.’”
.. Right now two VLCCs are broadcasting that they have Chinese crews and owners.” 👀
@bloomberg.com
.. Right now two VLCCs are broadcasting that they have Chinese crews and owners.” 👀
@bloomberg.com
July 23, 2026 at 2:46 PM
Bloomberg terminal allows users to see “oil tanker captains sending messages to the Houthis .. basically signaling ‘don't shoot, we're not a target.’”
.. Right now two VLCCs are broadcasting that they have Chinese crews and owners.” 👀
@bloomberg.com
.. Right now two VLCCs are broadcasting that they have Chinese crews and owners.” 👀
@bloomberg.com
fortunately, VLCCs are very small and non-ferrous, hard to detect with radar
July 23, 2026 at 3:54 PM
fortunately, VLCCs are very small and non-ferrous, hard to detect with radar
It’s not just VLCCs. Spot rates for all crude tankers are simultaneously skyrocketing
⚓️West Africa-China and US Gulf-China VLCC indexes hit all-time highs of $441,081 and $289,894 per day, respectively, on Monday; MEG-China index topped $1m per day
www.lloydslist.com/articles/202...
⚓️West Africa-China and US Gulf-China VLCC indexes hit all-time highs of $441,081 and $289,894 per day, respectively, on Monday; MEG-China index topped $1m per day
www.lloydslist.com/articles/202...
It’s not just VLCCs. Spot rates for all crude tankers are simultaneously skyrocketing
The Hormuz crisis and the East-West pipeline attack mainly affect VLCC trades, but what has transpired over the past week goes far beyond VLCCs. As Pareto Securities put it: there is a ‘complete take-off in the crude tanker segments’
www.lloydslist.com
September 15, 2026 at 3:33 AM
It’s not just VLCCs. Spot rates for all crude tankers are simultaneously skyrocketing
⚓️West Africa-China and US Gulf-China VLCC indexes hit all-time highs of $441,081 and $289,894 per day, respectively, on Monday; MEG-China index topped $1m per day
www.lloydslist.com/articles/202...
⚓️West Africa-China and US Gulf-China VLCC indexes hit all-time highs of $441,081 and $289,894 per day, respectively, on Monday; MEG-China index topped $1m per day
www.lloydslist.com/articles/202...
Also, VLCCs just grow on trees, they certainly don’t take forever to build if you think one
September 2, 2026 at 4:50 AM
Also, VLCCs just grow on trees, they certainly don’t take forever to build if you think one
Iran taking payments for Strait of Hormuz passage in crypto and Chinese yuan.
www.tradewindsnews.com/tankers/iran...
www.tradewindsnews.com/tankers/iran...
Iran taking payments for Strait of Hormuz passage in crypto and Chinese yuan
VLCCs expected to pay $2m to pass through critical chokepoint
www.tradewindsnews.com
April 2, 2026 at 7:27 PM
Iran taking payments for Strait of Hormuz passage in crypto and Chinese yuan.
www.tradewindsnews.com/tankers/iran...
www.tradewindsnews.com/tankers/iran...
Multiple OFAC-sanctioned tankers transited with AIS on, while two sanctioned VLCCs went dark to load an estimated 3–4M bbl of crude at Kharg.-Windward
June 29, 2026 at 11:43 AM
Multiple OFAC-sanctioned tankers transited with AIS on, while two sanctioned VLCCs went dark to load an estimated 3–4M bbl of crude at Kharg.-Windward
@auonsson.bsky.social what to make of this? Three VLCCs drifting? Seems…. Idd
January 24, 2026 at 2:01 AM
@auonsson.bsky.social what to make of this? Three VLCCs drifting? Seems…. Idd
here's AIS of seven VLCCs appearing to be off Rio de Janeiro but they're all spoofing their location and calling at Venezuela. it's a new-ish spoofing area, after a few years preferring waters off Angola
February 4, 2025 at 12:03 PM
here's AIS of seven VLCCs appearing to be off Rio de Janeiro but they're all spoofing their location and calling at Venezuela. it's a new-ish spoofing area, after a few years preferring waters off Angola
Some mysteries:
-Whats up with brent/WTI spread
-Whats up VLCCs
- Whats up with how chill everyone is
-Whats up with brent/WTI spread
-Whats up VLCCs
- Whats up with how chill everyone is
March 18, 2026 at 7:13 PM
Some mysteries:
-Whats up with brent/WTI spread
-Whats up VLCCs
- Whats up with how chill everyone is
-Whats up with brent/WTI spread
-Whats up VLCCs
- Whats up with how chill everyone is
I like how the pic shows two US flagged VLCCs about to slam into each other.
Perfect visual metaphor for Trump's delusional self-destructive war for glory and profit.
Perfect visual metaphor for Trump's delusional self-destructive war for glory and profit.
April 30, 2026 at 1:35 AM
I like how the pic shows two US flagged VLCCs about to slam into each other.
Perfect visual metaphor for Trump's delusional self-destructive war for glory and profit.
Perfect visual metaphor for Trump's delusional self-destructive war for glory and profit.
Yeah I assume the VLCCs are pretty much war proof but everything else…
April 8, 2026 at 1:31 AM
Yeah I assume the VLCCs are pretty much war proof but everything else…
15+ tankers linked to Saudi Arabia, mostly empty Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), are heading northwest towards Oman/UAE and the Persian Gulf.
August 11, 2026 at 1:05 AM
15+ tankers linked to Saudi Arabia, mostly empty Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), are heading northwest towards Oman/UAE and the Persian Gulf.
When the Flotta and Sullum Voe terminals started operations and VLCCs started transiting the West coast of Scotland, the Admiralty Hydrographic Office issued a rather pointed notice reminding tanker captains that the were, in effect, “surveying the area with their draft” 😬
March 25, 2025 at 9:13 AM
When the Flotta and Sullum Voe terminals started operations and VLCCs started transiting the West coast of Scotland, the Admiralty Hydrographic Office issued a rather pointed notice reminding tanker captains that the were, in effect, “surveying the area with their draft” 😬
VLCCs spotted sailing in broad day light AGAIN TODAY 👇despite Iran "blockade".
3 VLCCs spotted inbound at
25.8547, 56.5048
1 PANAMAX outbound at
26.2537, 56.1841
browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu?zoom=18&lat=...
3 VLCCs spotted inbound at
25.8547, 56.5048
1 PANAMAX outbound at
26.2537, 56.1841
browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu?zoom=18&lat=...
September 16, 2026 at 4:46 PM
VLCCs spotted sailing in broad day light AGAIN TODAY 👇despite Iran "blockade".
3 VLCCs spotted inbound at
25.8547, 56.5048
1 PANAMAX outbound at
26.2537, 56.1841
browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu?zoom=18&lat=...
3 VLCCs spotted inbound at
25.8547, 56.5048
1 PANAMAX outbound at
26.2537, 56.1841
browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu?zoom=18&lat=...
9 VLCCs entered the Persian Gulf via Hormuz on Friday August 21st.
Largest daily ballast capacity inflow I've seen (>20 MMbbl all in) since the end of the post-MOU surge.
Largest daily ballast capacity inflow I've seen (>20 MMbbl all in) since the end of the post-MOU surge.
August 25, 2026 at 12:51 PM
9 VLCCs entered the Persian Gulf via Hormuz on Friday August 21st.
Largest daily ballast capacity inflow I've seen (>20 MMbbl all in) since the end of the post-MOU surge.
Largest daily ballast capacity inflow I've seen (>20 MMbbl all in) since the end of the post-MOU surge.
Chinese state giants pull VLCCs from Red Sea as safety trumps commercial gains
⚓️Cosco Shipping and China Merchants are withdrawing from Red Sea trade, prioritising safety over expected diplomatic privileges
www.lloydslist.com/articles/202...
⚓️Cosco Shipping and China Merchants are withdrawing from Red Sea trade, prioritising safety over expected diplomatic privileges
www.lloydslist.com/articles/202...
Chinese state giants pull VLCCs from Red Sea as safety trumps commercial gains
Chinese state VLCC operators apply the same playbook to the Red Sea as they did to Hormuz: get out and wait it out
www.lloydslist.com
July 27, 2026 at 10:27 AM
Chinese state giants pull VLCCs from Red Sea as safety trumps commercial gains
⚓️Cosco Shipping and China Merchants are withdrawing from Red Sea trade, prioritising safety over expected diplomatic privileges
www.lloydslist.com/articles/202...
⚓️Cosco Shipping and China Merchants are withdrawing from Red Sea trade, prioritising safety over expected diplomatic privileges
www.lloydslist.com/articles/202...
6-8 million barrels would be 3-4 VLCCs at max capacity, which would not contradict this
August 28, 2026 at 9:53 PM
6-8 million barrels would be 3-4 VLCCs at max capacity, which would not contradict this
genuinely what kind of Operation in the strait is even remotely possible? the iranians can lob missiles and drones at VLCCs from hundreds of miles inland. the ships aren’t going to start moving just because there’s a navy vessel nearby
March 17, 2026 at 8:19 PM
genuinely what kind of Operation in the strait is even remotely possible? the iranians can lob missiles and drones at VLCCs from hundreds of miles inland. the ships aren’t going to start moving just because there’s a navy vessel nearby
i think kpler had the tankers through there at like 5 daily? and not VLCCs, these are headed up through suez so suezmaxes
September 10, 2026 at 3:42 PM
i think kpler had the tankers through there at like 5 daily? and not VLCCs, these are headed up through suez so suezmaxes