A handful of Greek shipping magnates are keeping crude flowing through the Strait of Hormuz by betting that insurance and war premiums outweigh missile risk. When most carriers stopped transiting the waterway in early March 2026—after Iran declared the strait closed and insurers cancelled war risk coverage—George Prokopiou’s Dynacom Tankers Management sent at least five tankers through anyway. As the WSJ, Cyprus Mail, and Sydney Morning Herald reported, the 79-year-old billionaire’s vessels have earned roughly $500,000 a day on Gulf–China runs, about four times pre-war levels. Prokopiou’s tanker gamble is why oil prices have not spiked: someone is still moving the oil.
The bet is simple—and brutal
Reuters and The Cradle reported that major marine insurers—Gard, Skuld, NorthStandard, the London P&I Club, the American Club—cancelled war risk coverage for the Strait and Persian Gulf effective 5 March 2026. Tanker traffic collapsed by around 90%; only a handful of supertankers transited on some days, and roughly 150 ships anchored in surrounding waters. VLCC rates from the Middle East to China hit records above $420,000 per day. Brent crude jumped as much as 13%. Yet Dynacom kept running. TradeWinds and IDN Financials confirmed that the 150,000-tonne suezmax Pola and other Dynacom vessels crossed the strait; crews used armed guards and disabled transponders to reduce detection. The International Transport Workers’ Federation condemned the practice as forcing crews into unnecessary danger—at least nine commercial ships have been hit since the conflict began, with three seafarers killed, as the SMH noted. Prokopiou has said: “If you are not willing to take risks, you cannot operate in shipping.” His three companies manage over 150 vessels with about 85 more on order.
The U.S. has signalled federal insurance backstops and possible Navy escorts to restart transits, as analysts reported. For now, a few owners are carrying the risk. Greek shipowners control the world’s largest tanker fleet and have historically profited during energy upheavals. Prokopiou is not alone—other Greek operators have continued selective transits—but his visibility and scale make him the face of the bet. The WSJ headline captured it: the billionaire whose ships are braving missiles in the Strait of Hormuz. As long as some tonnage moves, crude keeps reaching refiners and prices stay off the worst-case spike. When that stops, or when a major incident closes the strait for good, the calculus changes overnight.
What This Actually Means
Oil prices have not spiked to the $100-plus catastrophe some modelled because a handful of owners are still willing to run the gauntlet. Prokopiou and his peers are not heroes—they are rational profit-seekers: war premiums and sky-high freight make the risk worth taking. The moment insurers or governments make the risk too high, or the strait too hot, the last tankers stop and the price spike arrives. Until then, the world’s oil supply depends on a few billionaires and their crews.
Background
Who is George Prokopiou? He is a billionaire Greek shipowner, founder of Dynacom Tankers, Sea Traders, and Dynagas. What is the Strait of Hormuz? It is the narrow passage between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman; roughly 20% of global seaborne oil and a fifth of LNG pass through it.
Sources
WSJ, Cyprus Mail, Sydney Morning Herald, Reuters, The Cradle, TradeWinds, CNBC