Billionaire’s shipping empire sends tankers into deadly Strait of Hormuz

A tycoon’s shipping empire is sending oil tankers into the Strait of Hormuz, despite Iran’s warning that any vessels using the vital trade lane will be sunk.At least five ships owned by George Prokopiou’s company Dynacom Tankers have travelled through the 30-mile wide narrows at the mouth of the Gulf since the war began, according to maritime analytics specialist Kpler.Crews have allegedly been ordered to turn off the transponders on the vessels before entering the strait in order to make them harder to hit.Ship-tracking websites showed them disappearing from view as they approached the waterway before reappearing on the other side after their transponders were reactivated.The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) condemned the practice and said that ship owners should not be forcing crews to risk their lives.The high-risk strategy has not been limited to loaded tankers carrying oil from the Gulf – even empty ships have passed through from the east.One such tanker, the 72,000-metric ton Athina, appears to have crossed through the strait unladen on Saturday night, loaded up in Bahrain and departed two days later.It was still in the Gulf on Friday, headed east toward the strait, according to the VesselFinder website.The much larger Pola – which at 150,000 metric tons is one of the largest tankers able to use the Suez canal – was among the other Dynacom ships to make the transit, according to Kpler.Mr Prokopiou, 79, a controversial figure in the shipping industry, said after the Russian invasion of Ukraine that “sanctions have never worked”.Ukraine added Dynacom to its list of “international sponsors of war”, although it later withdrew the designation.The company’s decision to continue to use the Strait of Hormuz risks its ships coming under attack from Iranian missiles after Tehran pledged that any ships in the area would be set “on fire”. Iran has declared the trade lane closed.At least nine cargo vessels have been hit in the area since the start of the conflict, with three seafarers killed.However, the rewards for making the journey are significant. Freight rates have more than doubled in a week, with a tanker sailing through the strait to China now earning about $500,000 (£374,000) a day, according to price-reporting agency Argus.Ana Subasic, a trade risk analyst at Kpler, said the Dynacom tankers and a handful of shadow fleet vessels – which transport Iranian oil in defiance of international sanctions – were the only ones still using the strait.‘Unique’ insurance arrangementsShe said the Greek firm would have had to negotiate “unique” insurance arrangements to restart operations and that other shipping lines were unlikely to follow since most insurers would baulk at such terms.Ms Subasic said she understood that the US was also continuing to look at ways to provide insurance cover that would get oil flowing out of the Gulf again, but that no solution was close to hand.She said she expected the waterway to remain closed for at least four more weeks.Stephen Cotton, the general secretary of the ITF, said seafarers have agreements offering them the right to refuse to sail into the area.The ITF and major shipping lines agreed to designate the strait a “warlike operations area” on Thursday, enhancing protections for crews. The agreement also includes a 100pc bonus for those staff who do agree to sail through the strait and doubles compensation for death or disability arising from an attack.Mr Cotton said: “The risk to life for seafarers in the Strait of Hormuz is real and present and seafarers have already been killed.“It is alarming to hear that companies are choosing to sail and put seafarers’ lives at risk. No worker should have to risk being killed or maimed simply for doing their job.”Mr Prokopiou’s three shipping companies have a collective fleet of more than 150 vessels, with many more currently under construction.The tycoon also owns a 106.5-metre “mega-yacht,” the Dream, moored near Athens, and has developed extensive real estate holdings, including the only Four Seasons hotel in Greece and an adjoining marina development.However, he drives an ageing Mercedes 4x4 and is known to eschew personal bodyguards, unlike the majority of Greece’s ship-owning elite.Dynacom Tankers was contacted for comment.