Iran War Hastens Rush of Clean Fuel Tankers Turning to Crude Oil

Increasing numbers of so-called clean tankers that transport fuels like diesel and gasoline are becoming dirty crude carriers as the impact of the war in Iran make switching more profitable.

Some 68 long range-2 tankers have converted to carrying crude oil so far this year, compared with 49 for the whole of 2025, according to ship-tracking platform Signal Ocean. LR2s are the largest-sized vessels built for clean oil products, and have similar capacity as Aframaxes, the smallest crude ships that can hold as much as 800,000 barrels.