A little-known South Korean shipowner, Sinokor Group, carried close to 40 percent of all the oil that moved through the Strait of Hormuz in September, according to shipping data from Vortexa, Equasis and the Signal Group reported on October 23 — a striking concentration of the world's most contested energy route in a single private fleet.

Sinokor's vessels carried 105.6 million barrels of crude that month — yaani 10.56 crore barrels. That was more than the next three owners combined: Saudi Arabia's Bahri, the Kuwait Oil Tanker Company and ADNOC's shipping arm together shipped 97.3 million barrels — yaani 9.73 crore barrels. The analysis counted vessel ownership rather than operators.

Lloyd's List, the shipping industry journal, put the same dominance in transit terms: Sinokor accounted for 47 percent of all very large crude carrier (VLCC) transits through Hormuz in September and more than half of them in the first ten days of October. The group has taken delivery of 73 secondhand supertankers since December, many of them working shuttle trades inside the strait.

Oil is moving again — at a price

Those shuttle trades, in which tankers load inside the strait and transfer cargoes to other ships in the Gulf of Oman, have helped restore Gulf crude exports towards pre-crisis levels, Lloyd's List reported. But the system is expensive and inefficient, and it depends on owners and crews accepting risks most of the industry now refuses: seven Sinokor-owned tankers have already been hit by missiles or projectiles, and Lloyd's List counted more than 25 attacks or security incidents in the first half of October alone.

The concentration matters far beyond shipping. Hormuz is the route for crude bound for India and the rest of Asia, and the data shows that keeping it flowing now rests heavily on one risk-tolerant fleet — while attacks continue and freight and insurance costs stay far above normal.