China Tankers Join Line to Test Hormuz Exit and Iran Truce

By Weilun Soon

Apr 9, 2026 (Bloomberg) –Two fully laden Chinese oil tankers are waiting near the Strait of Hormuz with a third on its way, putting them in a position to become the first such vessels to leave the Persian Gulf under a day-old US-Iran ceasefire, even as shipowners scrutinize the details of the truce.

The Cospearl Lake, a very-large crude carrier linked to China’s state-owned Cosco Shipping Corp., and He Rong Hai, owned by a smaller entity, appeared to be traveling east early on Thursday morning at near-top speeds, according to ship-tracking data, before coming to a virtual