Two Chinese-linked supertankers have finally moved out of the Strait of Hormuz after more than two months of war-driven disruption, giving the Iran crisis its clearest shipping signal yet that a narrow reopening may be starting to take shape.
Al Jazeera reported that LSEG and Kpler shipping data showed the Chinese-flagged Yuan Gui Yang and the Hong Kong-flagged Ocean Lily navigated out of the waterway carrying about 4 million barrels of crude. The report said the vessels had been waiting in the Gulf since the opening days of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.
That is the new angle. List25 has already covered the war’s stalled negotiations, Hormuz toll threats, shipping insurance pressure, and earlier tanker movements. This update is more specific: two named Chinese-linked supertankers that had been trapped since late February are now leaving the chokepoint while Washington says a deal may be close.
Two named tankers are now moving
The Yuan Gui Yang reportedly loaded 2 million barrels of Iraqi Basrah crude on February 27, one day before the war began. The Ocean Lily loaded 1 million barrels each of Qatari al-Shaheen and Iraqi Basrah crude between late February and early March, according to the shipping data cited in the report.
Container News also reported that two Chinese oil tankers had exited the strait on Wednesday, carrying around 4 million barrels of Iraqi crude through the strategic waterway. The outlet tied the movement to fresh White House optimism over negotiations with Tehran.
The tanker movement does not mean Hormuz is back to normal. It does mean the crisis has moved from purely theoretical reopening talk into visible ship movements involving major Asian energy buyers. For oil markets, that distinction matters.
Trump and Vance are talking up a deal
The timing is why this story matters. President Donald Trump told U.S. lawmakers the war on Iran would end “very quickly” and “hopefully … in a very nice manner,” according to Al Jazeera. Vice President JD Vance said negotiations with Tehran were “in a pretty good spot here” and that “a lot of good progress is being made.”
Those comments came after Trump had warned that Iran had only “two to three days” to make a deal and said he had been an hour away from ordering an attack before postponing it. In other words, the tanker exits are happening during a volatile mix of diplomatic optimism and open military pressure.
South Korea may also be testing the same window. Al Jazeera reported that South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun told lawmakers in Seoul that a Korean crude vessel was passing through the strait on Wednesday.
Oil prices eased, but the market is not calm
Brent crude briefly fell to $110.16 a barrel after the positive White House signals, according to Al Jazeera. That is still an extremely elevated price, and analysts warned that even a deal would not immediately restore pre-war supply flows.
That warning tracks with the broader economic damage already visible from the Hormuz disruption. Al Jazeera noted that the United Nations cut its global growth forecast to 2.5 percent for this year, down from an estimated 3 percent last year, citing higher energy costs and weaker trade.
The practical question now is whether these tanker exits are an early sign of a controlled reopening, or just a small release valve for vessels that have been trapped too long. A real reopening would require safe routes, lower insurance risk, clearer Iranian rules, and enough political confidence for more shipowners to follow.
For now, the headline is narrower but important: after weeks of frozen traffic and war-risk paralysis, Chinese-linked crude tankers are moving out of Hormuz as Washington and Tehran edge back toward a possible deal.