Yiannis Alafouzos’s Okeanis Eco Tankers has brought an end to an ordeal that lasted nearly three months, as its last tanker, which had remained stranded in the Persian Gulf, managed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz and continue its journey to India.
The vessel in question is the VLCC“Nissos Keros,” with a capacity of 318,700 dwt, which had loaded approximately 1.8 million barrels of Das crude in the United Arab Emirates as early as the beginning of March, but remained blocked in the region due to the escalation of tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
According to AIS data, the vessel is now heading east in the Arabian Sea and is expected to arrive on June 3 at the port of Visakhapatnam in eastern India, where a Hindustan Petroleum refinery is located. Reports indicate that the vessel was chartered by Vitol.
Okeanis CEO Aristides Alafouzos had revealed earlier in May that one of the company’s ships remained stranded beyond the Strait of Hormuz. As he explained, the company subsequently avoided deploying its ships on Asian routes as the U.S.-Iran crisis escalated, opting instead for shorter routes and a more flexible commercial strategy.
Okeanis had, however, “locked in” high revenues earlier in the first quarter through long-haul charters, a decision that ultimately led to four of its cargoes being temporarily stranded in the Strait of Hormuz region.