Many international shipping vessels, such as the one pictured in March, have been anchored and idling in the Middle East after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz to non-Iranian traffic after the United States and Israel engaged in a war there. Friday, Iran allowed vessels linked to France and Japan to transit the Straight for the first time in weeks. File Photo by stringer/EPA
April 3 (UPI) — A French-owned shipping vessel on Friday was the first Western ship permitted to transit the Strait of Hormuz since the United States and Israel started the war in Iran.
The container ship, owned by the company CMA CGM, is one of several that were permitted to transit the Strait after weeks of Iran permitting few, if any, vessels to pass through it.
The French ship sailed under the flag of Malta and is believed to have been idling in the Persian Gulf since early March, similar to many other vessels, after Iran choked off non-Iranian traffic in response to the war.
The ship switched on its transponder and looked to leave the gulf Thursday afternoon after Iran permitted several ships to transit the Strait, Euronews and The Guardian reported.
The other vessels were three tankers, at least one of which was a liquefied natural gas tanker with a Panamian flag that is owned by a Japanese company.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the busiest trade routes in the world and, among other things that are shipped through it, sees roughly 20% of the world’s oil and gas supply transit daily under normal circumstances.
The United States has discussed sending U.S. Navy vessels to escort ships through the Strait, although that could be expensive, time consuming and put U.S. troops and assets in danger. Other nations — including Britain — were beginning to look for ways to move vessels through the Strait regardless of the war in Iran.
France, for example, struck a deal with South Korea on Friday to work together to secure safe passage for their vessels through the strait.
Both nations rely on oil and gas from the region, on top of other parts of the global supply chain in which they participate, and said they are working together to deal with the economic and energy crises that have been triggered by the war in Iran.
President Donald Trump delivers a prime-time address to the nation from the Cross Hall in the White House on Wednesday. President Trump used the address to update the public on the month-long war in Iran. Pool photo by Alex Brandon/UPI | License Photo