ATLANTIC LABRADOR

A Chinese supertanker carrying two million barrels of Iraqi crude sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday after being stranded in the Gulf for more than two months due to the U.S.-Iran war, LSEG and Kpler ship-tracking data showed.The VLCC Yuan Hua Hu is now anchored off the Gulf of Oman, near where the U.S. Navy has set up a blockade on Iranian vessels, LSEG data showed.The crossing comes as U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are due to meet over the next two days, and after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi visited Beijing last week.The voyage marks the third known passage by a Chinese oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz since the U.S.

Anemoi Marine Technologies’ Rotor Sail wind-assisted propulsion system has completed more than eight years of continuous commercial operation after M/V Afros successfully passed its second intermediate dry dock survey.The survey, conducted by Lloyd’s Register in China in April, confirmed the structural integrity and operational condition of the vessel’s four Rotor Sails, Anemoi said.The 64,000-deadweight-tonne Ultramax bulk carrier Afros became the first bulk carrier fitted with Rotor Sails when the system was installed in 2018.

Both Iraq and Pakistan have cut deals with Iran to ship oil and liquefied natural gas from the Gulf, according to five sources with knowledge of the matter, in a demonstration of Tehran's ability to control energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz.The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has slashed energy exports from a region that normally supplies 20% of the world's crude oil and LNG. The U.S. has blockaded Iranian ports in recent weeks. And though Iran initially sought to halt traffic through the strait, that stance is now changing, said Claudio Steuer of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies."Iran has shifted from blocking Hormuz to controlling access to it ...

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Monday urged President Donald Trump to hold fast to trade remedies proposed by his administration to rebuild U.S. shipbuilding and not offer concessions when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping.Democratic Senators Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Mark Kelly of Arizona as well as Republicans Tim Scott of South Carolina and Todd Young of Indiana told Trump in a letter sent on Monday that China's decades-long effort to "decimate American shipbuilding" demanded the use of U.S. trade measures to their fullest extent.

Oil prices gained more than 3% on Friday, climbing more than $3 a barrel, after comments by U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran's foreign minister further dented hopes of a deal to end ship attacks and seizures around the Strait of Hormuz.Brent crude futures gained $3.35, or 3.17%, to $109.07 a barrel by 12:34 p.m. CDT (1734 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were up $3.85, or 3.81%, at $105.02.Over the week, Brent has climbed 7.72% and WTI 10.11% on uncertainty over the shaky ceasefire in the Iran war."The tone between the U.S. and Iran has once again become significantly more confrontational.