Japan refiners deploy VLCCs for ship transfers, US crude amid Hormuz disruptions in International Shipping News 11/06/2026 Supertankers time-chartered by Japan’s oil refiners are facing a challenging situation, changing the basic mechanism of crude trade by doing ship-to-ship, or STS, transfer in Malaysia, even as some of them are partially idle due to disruption at the Strait of Hormuz, while others are tapping the US market, several tanker brokers, owners and charterers told Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, June 9. “It is a very challenging situation because Japanese tanker owners do not permit the VLCCs they have chartered out to call ports in the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and even Fujairah and Oman,” said a chartering source. Two tanker brokers said that only the shipping company, NYK, permits the loading in Mina-al-Fahal on a case-by-case basis. An NYK spokesperson confirmed that its ships do not pass through or call at the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, but prohibition has been lifted in some parts of Oman. Senior executives at another major tanker owner, Mitsui OSK Lines, or MOL, also confirmed that its tankers are currently not loading cargoes in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Fujairah and the Gulf of Oman. Executives at Japanese refining companies said they are saddled with a large number of VLCCs, which were taken on time charter much before the war began in the Persian Gulf, and the region was then the source of about 90% Japan’s crude supplies. Before the war, Japan had a crude refining capacity of about 3.1 million barrels/day, but a part of it is now underutilized, they said. Since these VLCCs are no longer able to call ports in the Persian Gulf and Fujairah, and in most cases even Mina-al-Fahal in Oman, they are seeking alternative opportunities. Crude transfers in Malaysia For decades, Japan and other Asian countries have enjoyed direct shipments of cargoes from the Persian Gulf to the destination ports. However, now with dozens of tankers idle, the