# China’s Oil Giants Quietly Reroute Around Hormuz, Exposing a Global Chokepoint Vulnerability

*Tuesday, August 18, 2026 at 10:07 AM UTC — Hamer Intelligence Services Desk*

**Published**: 2026-08-18T10:07:57.176Z (2h ago)
**Category**: markets | **Region**: Global
**Importance**: 8/10
**Sources**: OSINT
**Permalink**: https://hamerintel.com/data/articles/14857.md
**Source**: https://hamerintel.com/summaries

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**Deck**: China’s state-owned tanker operators COSCO and CMES have stopped transiting the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al‑Mandeb, shifting to load Middle Eastern crude at safer ports like Fujairah and Oman. The rerouting shows how security fears in two narrow waterways are already reshaping global energy flows, with direct consequences for tanker crews, insurers and the cost of moving oil out of the Gulf.

When two of the world’s biggest tanker operators change route, the map of global energy trade shifts with them. China’s state‑owned shipping giants COSCO and China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES) have halted oil tanker transits through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al‑Mandeb because of security risks, according to people familiar with their operations. Instead, they are loading Middle Eastern crude outside the highest‑risk choke points, mainly at Fujairah in the UAE and ports near Oman. The decision pulls Chinese crews and hulls away from two of the most volatile stretches of water in the global system. Hormuz, a narrow channel between Iran and Oman, normally carries a substantial…

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