Chinese Oil Tankers Attempt to Exit the Strait of Hormuz

Two Chinese oil tankers carrying Iraqi and Saudi crude sped up on Thursday morning toward the exit of the Strait of Hormuz, before coming to a halt just at the entrance to the chokepoint, in a sign that Chinese vessel owners appear to be testing the terms of the supposed restart of transits. The Cospearl Lake crude oil tanker, linked to Chinese state shipping Cosco, departed from Basrah in Iraq in early March and is openly broadcasting that it is Chinese-owned with a Chinese crew, according to data on MarineTraffic. Another China-owned tanker,…