In an unusual move, two container vessels belonging to China’s state-owned Cosco Shipping were turned back from crossing the Strait of Hormuz on Friday morning, according to ship tracker MarineTraffic and Chinese crew members near the strait.
The two ships—CSCL Indian Ocean and CSCL Arctic Ocean—made U-turns near Larak Island, about 20 miles from the port of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran. In recent days, some ships have transited the strait via the narrow channel between Iran’s Qeshm and Larak islands, including those signaling Chinese owners and crew members.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Friday that it had turned back three containerships of various nationalities trying to cross the strait, adding that all ship traffic to and from ports of supporters of the U.S. and Israel was prohibited, according to Nour News, which is affiliated with the country’s Supreme National Security Council.
Containership owners told the Journal that the only vessels that can now cross the strait are those with cargoes of Iran-destined household goods, cars, clothing and pharmaceuticals.
In the past week, Iran has allowed four ships loaded with grains to cross the Strait of Hormuz in the other direction, after waiting nearly three weeks in the Gulf of Oman, according to brokers who arranged the cargoes. The bulkers unloaded at Iran’s Bandar Imam Khomeini port, where three-quarters of the cargo handled is grain imports mainly from Russia and South America.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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