Sinokor Merchant Marine (English name: Sinokor Group) reportedly transported 37% of the crude oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz last month, effectively dominating crude oil transportation in the strait.

Bloomberg reported, based on an analysis of vessel-tracking data from maritime intelligence firms Vortexa, Equasis, and Signal Ocean, that oil tankers owned by Sinokor transported 105.6 million barrels of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz in September.

This accounts for 37% of the approximately 286.3 million barrels of crude oil that passed through the strait that month.

This volume exceeds the combined total (97.3 million barrels) of the second through fourth largest transporters: National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri), Kuwait Oil Tanker Company, and the shipping division of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).

Bloomberg explained that this analysis was compiled based on the ownership of the oil tankers rather than the vessel operators.

In connection with this, the British maritime specialist media outlet Lloyd's List reported that based on the number of Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) transits, Sinokor accounted for 47% of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz in September, and that its share increased to over 50% during the first 10 days of this month.

Lloyd's List added that seven Sinokor-owned oil tankers have suffered damage, including being targeted by missiles or drone attacks.

Sinokor oil tankers have primarily been deployed for short-haul "shuttle" operations, loading crude oil inside the Persian Gulf, passing through the strait, and unloading at ship-to-ship transfer points in the Gulf of Oman.

Following crude oil from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it has also recently transported some crude oil from Iraq and Qatar.

Bloomberg reported that even as Gulf crude oil exports recover to levels close to those before the war, Sinokor remains one of the most active shipowners in shuttle operations.

Thanks to securing a massive fleet of oil tankers through second-hand vessel purchases and time charter contracts just before the Iran war, Sinokor absorbed the vessel demand from oil-producing countries amid the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Previously, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported last July that Sinokor Vice Chairman Chung Ga-hyun invested approximately 7 billion dollars just before the war to build the world's largest VLCC fleet.

At the time, Sinokor was known to operate more than 160 oil tankers, holding a global oil tanker market share of about 17%.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)