Paris (France) (AFP) – A container ship declaring itself to have a French owner has passed through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Marine Traffic data analyzed by AFP on Friday. The Maltese-flagged Kribi, belonging to the French maritime transport group CMA CGM, crossed the strait—virtually blocked by Iran since early in the Middle East war—to exit the Gulf on Thursday afternoon, as the maritime tracking website indicated.
This appears to be the first known transit by a major European shipping group since March 1, when Iranian attacks against ships near the Strait of Hormuz, in retaliation for US-Israel strikes, reduced crossings to a trickle. The ship was off Muscat, Oman, early Friday, still broadcasting the message “owner France” on its transponder system in the field usually used to give the destination.
The vessel’s navigation data showed it crossed via a new Iranian-approved route through its waters, dubbed the “Tehran Toll Booth” by leading shipping journal Lloyd’s List. At least two vessels have paid to use the corridor around Larak Island just off Iran’s coast, a Lloyd’s List Intelligence analyst mentioned in a briefing on Thursday.
The few commercial vessels transiting through the waterway with their transponders on since the start of the war have passed close to Larak Island, according to maritime data analyzed by AFP. Most of the transits made since March 1 have been ships coming from or heading to Iran, with some linked to the United Arab Emirates, India, China, or Saudi Arabia.
In peacetime, around 20 percent of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas passes through this chokepoint. In early March, vessels began displaying links to China while sailing or anchoring in the Gulf region in an effort to signal political neutrality and reduce the risk of being targeted by Iran, according to analysts.
Beijing expressed “gratitude” on Tuesday after three of its ships passed through the strait, including two container ships on Monday belonging to state-owned shipping giant Cosco. The war broke out on February 28 when the United States and Israel began bombing Iran, prompting Tehran to retaliate with strikes across the region and by severely restricting access to the Strait of Hormuz.
© 2024 AFP
