European ship passes through Strait of Hormuz for first time since war began - Bloomberg

A container ship bound for France has passed through the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg writes, citing sources. This is apparently the first known vessel from Western Europe to cross this corridor since the war with Iran almost paralyzed the key waterway, the agency points out.

A French-owned, Malta-flagged vessel of the world's third-largest container carrier CMA CGM Kribi left the waters near Dubai for Iran on the afternoon of April 2, according to ship tracking data cited by Bloomberg. It kept near the Iranian coast while passing through the strait, following the channel between the islands of Qeshm and Larak and not hiding its route. By Friday morning, the vessel had signaled it was off the coast of Muskat, Bloomberg's sources said.

The container ship CMA CGM Kribi is capable of carrying about five thousand standard twenty-foot containers, and the draft data indicates a full load, the agency reports. Earlier, the company reported that 14 of its vessels were stuck in the Persian Gulf and could not pass through the strait.

In addition, three more ships, as Bloomberg points out, also left the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz on April 2, but to the south - along the coast of Oman. Although traffic remains well below pre-war levels, there has been a slight increase, the agency notes.

Meanwhile, tracking the movement of ships entering and exiting the Strait of Hormuz remains inaccurate due to heavy jamming of signals in the region as well as spoofing, Bloomberg adds.

CMA CGM Kribi and the French Foreign Ministry declined to comment to the agency. The country's Ministry of Finance did not respond to the request.

Shipping in the Strait of Hormuz practically stopped after the US and Israel launched an operation against Iran and the Islamic republic's retaliatory strikes on the region. Since then, the strait has been crossed only by a limited number of vessels, mostly associated with countries friendly to Iran, Bloomberg writes. At the same time, a mechanism is taking shape in which Iran agrees in advance on the passage of ships along the route along its coast. Thus, Pakistan has agreed on the transit of 20 ships under its flag, and similar agreements on safe passage have been reached with a number of Asian countries. Iran is also promoting the introduction of a system of fees for passage through this key corridor. This is a concern for exporters in the region and could create additional barriers for consumers, the agency said.

European countries, including France, are making initial diplomatic efforts to ease the crisis, but no progress has been reported yet, Bloomberg points out. On April 2, Britain gathered representatives from Europe, the Middle East and Asia, as well as Australia and Canada, to consider options for negotiations with Tehran and possible sanctions if it refuses to unblock shipping, Bloomberg reported.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor