French-owned container ship transits Hormuz Strait in first since Iran war

It was ​not ⁠immediately clear how the vessel, which Marine Traffic tracking data shows is sailing south along the coast of Oman, secured safe passage.A container ship belonging to French shipping giant CMA CGM has crossed ⁠⁠through the Strait of Hormuz, the first such passage by a Western vessel since Iran effectively closed the waterway, the Marine Traffic vessel website shows.The Malta-flagged Kribi, owned by CMA CGM, crossed the Strait on April 2 and is the first French-owned vessel to ‌‌make it through the channel since the Iran" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="38342" data-entity-type="event">US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4GCC chief urges UN to halt Iranian attacks, protect Gulf waterwayslist 2 of 4As war drags on, US reiterates Trump open to diplomacy with Iranlist 3 of 4How war on Iran turned Pakistan’s LNG surplus into a looming shortagelist 4 of 4How China’s ‘teapot’ refineries are cushioning it from Iran war oil crisisend of listIt was not ⁠⁠immediately clear how the vessel, which the data shows is sailing south along the coast of Oman, secured safe passage.There was no immediate comment from CMA CGM.However, LSEG ⁠⁠shipping data showed the vessel on Thursday changed its destination to “Owner France”, ⁠⁠signalling to Iranian authorities the nationality ⁠⁠of its owner, before crossing the strait’s Iranian territorial waters.[Al Jazeera]The ship had originally been bound for Pointe-Noire in the Republic of ‌‌the Congo.Only about 150 vessels, including tankers and container ships, have transited the strait since March 1, according to data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence. Most were linked to Iran and countries including China, India and Pakistan.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.Energy crisisUntil the war led to the effective blocking of the Strait, it was the route for about a fifth of global oil and ⁠⁠liquefied natural gas supplies. As a result, fuel prices have skyrocketed worldwide.