x.com/Polymarket/status/2043716512800776222?s=20
1 correction found
Oil tanker bound for China reportedly forced to turn around due to the U.S. naval blockade, per ship tracking data.
The shipping-data reports on April 13 identified the tanker that turned back as a vessel headed to load Iraqi crude for Vietnam, not a China-bound tanker. Other vessel-tracking reports the same weekend showed China-bound tankers successfully transiting Hormuz.
Full reasoning
The cited "ship tracking data" does not support the claim that a China-bound oil tanker was the one forced to turn around.
- A Reuters shipping-data report from April 13 said the tanker that turned back was Agios Fanourios I, which had attempted to enter the Gulf to load Iraqi Basra crude for Vietnam. Reuters also reported that two other tankers exited via Hormuz before the blockade window. In other words, the vessel Reuters identified as turning around was Vietnam-bound, not China-bound.
- Separately, Lloyd’s List vessel-tracking data on April 12 reported that two Chinese state-owned VLCCs — Cospearl Lake and Yuan Hua Hu — had successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz and were sailing into the Indian Ocean, carrying Iraqi and Saudi crude. That directly cuts against the post’s implication that ship-tracking data showed a China-bound tanker being turned back.
- U.S. Central Command also said the blockade would target traffic entering or departing Iranian ports, and that U.S. forces would not impede vessels transiting Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports. So a non-Iranian China-bound tanker would not match the stated scope of the blockade.
Taken together, the available shipping-data reporting contradicts the post’s specific claim about a China-bound tanker being forced to turn around because of the U.S. blockade.
3 sources
- Oil tankers steer clear of Hormuz ahead of US blockade - Reuters via Investing.com
"Malta-flagged VLCC Agios Fanourios I, which attempted to enter the Gulf on Sunday to load Iraqi Basra crude for Vietnam, has since turned back and is anchored near the Gulf of Oman, the data showed."
- Cosco VLCCs break through Hormuz even as US-Iran diplomacy falters - Lloyd's List
"Cospearl Lake and Yuan Hua Hu, both owned by state conglomerate China Cosco Shipping Corp, transited the strait on April 11 and are now sailing through the Gulf of Oman into the Indian Ocean... Cospearl Lake is laden with Iraqi crude oil, while Yuan Hua Hu is carrying Saudi crude."
- UPDATED: Two U.S. Warships Sail Through Strait of Hormuz to Establish New Route for Merchant Ships - USNI News
"U.S. Central Command forces will begin implementing a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports... CENTCOM forces will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports."