Gulf oil tanker earnings near $650,000 a day as Iran war reshapes global shipping

Shipping a cargo of crude oil through the Persian Gulf now costs roughly what a Manhattan penthouse does. Daily earnings for Very Large Crude Carriers on the world’s benchmark tanker route have approached $650,000, a figure that would have sounded like satire 18 months ago when the same vessels were pulling in $20,000 to $40,000 per day. Two forces are driving the surge: the ongoing Iran conflict, which has turned the Strait of Hormuz into one of the most dangerous shipping lanes on the planet, and the aggressive fleet consolidation strategy of South Korean tycoon Ga-Hyun Chung, whose Sinokor group has been quietly cornering the VLCC market. How a war and a billionaire broke the tanker market Before the conflict escalated with US-Israeli strikes on February 28, 2026, roughly 125 ships per day passed through the Strait of Hormuz. That number has cratered to approximately 25. When you cut supply by 80% while demand stays elevated, prices do exactly what you’d expect. War-risk insurance has compounded the problem. Premiums for Gulf transits jumped from a baseline of 0.15% to 0.25% of hull value to as much as 1.5% or higher during peak tension periods. Sinokor’s roughly $7 billion acqu...