MSC enters the capital of South Korean Sinokor and reinforces its bet on the oil tanker market.

The Italian-Swiss shipowner MSC is preparing to acquire 50% of the South Korean Sinokor Maritime, in an operation that will place the company under joint control with Ga-Hyun Chung, current holder of all the capital.

The deal will be carried out through SAS Shipping Agencies Services, a vehicle of the MSC group, and confirms that the world’s largest container shipowner wants to strengthen its presence in segments beyond containerized transport. More than a simple financial contribution, this is a movement with strategic weight in the international maritime market.

Sinokor has gained size in recent times in the VLCC segment, the large tankers used to transport crude oil, through a series of acquisitions that have given it new scale and greater visibility in the tank sector. The formal entry of MSC therefore confirms an approach to a market where the Swiss group now has a much more direct position.

According to information made public in regulatory processes, the investment framework agreement was signed on February 2, 2026 and the operation then went on for consideration by competition authorities. To date, the financial amounts involved, nor details about the partnership’s operating model, have been disclosed. In a sector increasingly marked by diversification, scale and the search for control over strategic assets, this operation shows an MSC interested in extending influence to the oil tanker business, at a time when energy, global flows and transport capacity once again have increased weight in the decisions of large maritime groups.

The purchase of half of Sinokor is not just an investment, it is also a clear sign of repositioning.

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