In a major development, a container ship signaling French ownership left the Strait of Hormuz on Friday. It is apparently the first known transit by a Western European vessel since the Iran-US-Israeli conflict effectively halted traffic through the key waterway.
A Bloomberg report said the CMA CGM Kribi sailed from the waters off Dubai towards Iran on Thursday afternoon local time, indicating its owner was French, according to ship tracking data. He kept close to the coast of Iran, moving through the channel between the islands of Qeshm and Larak, broadcasting his route openly. On Friday morning it signaled that he was out of Muscat.
The Maltese-flagged vessel belongs to CMA CGM SA, the world’s third-largest container line, majority-owned by the billionaire Saadé family. The founder emigrated to France from war-torn Lebanon and started the line in 1978 in Marseille with one chartered vessel.
The company and the French foreign ministry declined to comment.
Three Omani ships entering the Strait of Hormuz
Meanwhile, three tankers signaling Oman’s ownership appeared to have entered the Strait of Hormuz by staying close to their country’s coast, suggesting a different route to a northern route through Iranian waters, another Bloomberg report said.
Two oil supertankers and a liquefied natural gas vessel headed east into the strait on Thursday based on satellite signals they were transmitting. According to maritime database Equasis, all three vessels are managed by Oman Ship Management Company. The company could not be reached for comment.
Iran has tightened its grip on Hormuz since the US and Israel attacked the country on February 28, reducing shipping to a trickle through the choke point, which normally handles about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. Tehran has allowed some ships from friendly countries to pass through a pre-approved route while threatening to attack vessels linked to the US or Israel. US allies including France are making initial diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis, but no progress has been reported so far.
