Pertamina VLCC Clears Hormuz With 2 Million Barrels After Four Months Held Up

PT Pertamina International Shipping (PIS) said its Very Large Crude Carrier Pertamina Pride passed through the Strait of Hormuz safely with a cargo capacity of 2 million barrels of crude, ending an immobilisation that began in March.

The tanker began moving from its position on Tuesday, July 7, 2026 at 13:00 Dubai time, or 16:00 WIB, and cleared the critical area and the strait on Wednesday, July 8, 2026 at 00:15 WIB. PIS said the vessel had exited the risk zone of the Arabian Gulf.

Two PIS vessels had been held in the area since March because of geopolitical escalation in the Middle East. Vega Pita, acting Corporate Secretary of PIS, said both ships can now resume their voyages and operate as normal.

The second vessel, Gamsunoro, had transited Hormuz earlier, on June 24, 2026. That sequencing put roughly two weeks between the two departures rather than a single convoy movement.

Timing and routing for the Pertamina Pride went through a risk assessment listing dozens of requirements that had to be met. Management applied risk controls covering crew readiness, insurance cover, and technical marine operational aspects. Insurance qualification is the pivot in war-risk transits: without bound cover, a laden VLCC does not sail, whatever the geopolitical read.

Throughout the passage the ship was monitored around the clock, with the crew coordinating with the shore team at the PIS crisis centre. Vega Pita said all crew serving aboard the Pertamina Pride are healthy and safe.

The company thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Indonesian Embassy in Tehran for their support. Diplomatic channels sitting alongside a shipowner's crisis desk is the operational shape of state-linked tonnage moving through a contested chokepoint.

The tanker is now sailing directly for the discharge port of Cilacap, in Central Java, Indonesia. The voyage is expected to take 15 days, with arrival in Indonesia on July 23.

For traders watching freight and delivery schedules, the arithmetic is blunt: a single laden VLCC carrying 2 million barrels sat out roughly four months of a delivery programme, and its cargo lands only in late July. Two hulls immobilised on that timescale represent working capital and refinery feedstock parked at anchor, and the release date was set by a risk committee rather than by a charter party.

The wider signal is that chokepoint transit has become a qualification exercise. Dozens of indicators had to clear before the vessel moved, and the passage itself was executed overnight, crossing the critical point at 00:15 WIB. Owners running similar routes are pricing the same variables: crew willingness, hull and war-risk cover, and continuous shore monitoring capacity.

Kompas.com reported the transit on July 9, 2026, in an article by Yohana Artha Uly edited by Erlangga Djumena. CariAku.com published its account the same day, written by Nurhidayati.