A Chinese supertanker carrying two million barrels of Iraqi crude was attempting to sail through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, according to LSEG and Kpler ship-tracking data.
The very large crude carrier Yuan Hua Hu was past Iran's Larak Island and was on the eastern side of the strait and heading south, the data showed.
If successful, the voyage would mark the third known passage by a Chinese oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28, based on available ship-tracking data.
Iran has appeared to firm up its control over the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, cutting deals with Iraq and Pakistan to ship oil and liquefied natural gas from the region, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.
Other countries are exploring similar deals, sources said, in a move that could normalise Tehran's control of the waterway on a more permanent basis.
The Chinese VLCC is owned and operated by COSCO Shipping Energy Transportation's Hainan unit and chartered by Unipec, the trading arm of Chinese state oil major Sinopec.
COSCO Shipping Energy Transportation and Sinopec did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
The Yuan Hua Hu loaded nearly two million barrels of Basrah Medium crude at Iraq's Basrah terminal in early March and has remained stranded inside the Persian Gulf since then, according to the tracking data. It is headed to Asia.
China-flagged VLCCs Cospearl Lake and He Rong Hai exited the Strait of Hormuz on April 11.
(Reporting by Siyi Liu in Singapore; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
