Iran issues first-ever fleet-wide ban on South Korean tanker giant Sinokor

Iran has given a South Korean tanker company until November 1. The Islamic Republic's strait authority warns of "sweeping action" against the entire Sinokor fleet unless it complies with Tehran's protocol for shipping through the Persian Gulf — the first time Iran has aimed a blanket warning at a whole shipowner rather than at named vessels.

The target is not a minor flag of convenience. Sinokor accounted for roughly 37 percent of oil transits through the Strait of Hormuz in September and more than half of Very Large Crude Carrier traffic in the first ten days of October, according to Lloyd's List Intelligence. At least seven tankers linked to the company have been struck by Iranian missiles or drones since the war began in February.

The warning lands days after Brent fell more than six percent on reports that diplomacy over Iran was gathering pace — a drop the market read as the strait returning to normal. Iran's answer suggests it never needed to close Hormuz to control it. Squeezing the fleet is quieter than mining a channel, and it can be tightened or released at will.

The bill arrives through insurance. Standard hull policies exclude war risks; owners buy separate cover, triggered on entry into a Joint War Committee listed area and priced in seven-day stretches. Before the war, that cover cost 0.15 to 0.25 percent of hull value, according to Lloyd's List. In early October, brokers were quoting 6 to 10 percent, the Financial Times reported. A $100 million tanker now pays as much as $10 million to insure a single voyage, cargo cover excluded — against roughly $250,000 before February — and underwriters retain the right to reprice or withdraw at short notice. New VLCCs cost $125 to 135 million from the shipyard.

The squeeze does not fall evenly. Two-fifths of the Gulf's crude already moves through pipelines that bypass the strait, against 17 percent before the war. What still sails is mostly crude bound for Asian refiners, and the freight rates for hauling it have made Sinokor, controlled by tycoon Ga-Hyun Chung, an outsized price-setter in the market, according to Bloomberg. American producers sell into the same wartime prices without a single hull in the strait; whoever buys crude priced off the benchmark pays the spread, European refiners included.

One Sinokor message to shipbrokers in August, detailing a vessel hired at a new sky-high rate to ferry oil out of the Gulf, closed with the words: "Very respectfully. Thank you very much and best regards."