The container belonging to French shipping giant CMA CGM is the first Western vessel known to have made the passage since Iran effectively closed the strait, the Marine Traffic vessel website showed on Friday.
The Malta-flagged Kribi, owned by CMA CGM, crossed the Strait on April 2. It 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.
The vessels appear to have switched off their AIS transponders during the crossing because their signal disappeared on vessel-tracking data.
Two very large crude carriers and one LNG tanker operated by Oman Shipping Management also exited the Gulf on Thursday, according to MarineTraffic and LSEG data.
Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines said on Friday that the LNG tanker, Sohar LNG, which it co-owns, had crossed the strait, making it the first Japan-linked vessel and the first LNG carrier to do so since the conflict began on February 28.
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 such as China, India and Pakistan.
Source: www.aljazeera.com
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