China confirms three ships passed through Strait of Hormuz

Three Chinese ships recently sailed through the Strait of Hormuz after coordination with relevant parties, a foreign ministry spokesperson told a regular daily press briefing on Tuesday, while calling for peace and stability in ‌the Gulf Region. The critical waterway has effectively been shut since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began on February 28. “The Strait of ‌Hormuz and the surrounding waters are an important route for global trade and energy supplies.

China calls for an immediate ceasefire, an end to the fighting and restoration of peace ​and stability in the Gulf Region,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters regarding reports of the vessels’ passage. Ship-tracking data showed two Chinese container ships sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday on their second attempt to leave the Gulf after turning back on Friday. The vessels sailed in close formation out of the strait and into open waters, data on the MarineTraffic platform showed.

“Both vessels successfully ‌crossed on a second attempt today, marking the first ⁠container vessels to leave the Persian Gulf since the start of the conflict, excluding Iranian flag vessels,” said Rebecca Gerdes, data analyst with Kpler, which owns MarineTraffic. “Both vessels are steaming at an elevated speed toward the Gulf ⁠of Oman at the moment.” Officials from China’s COSCO, the shipping group that operates the two vessels, did not respond to requests for comment. COSCO had said in a March 25 client advisory, that it had resumed bookings for general cargo containers for shipments from Asia to the Gulf including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi ​Arabia, ​Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq.

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Iran has launched attacks on Gulf shipping and threatened more, ​stranding hundreds of vessels and 20,000 seafarers inside the ‌Gulf. Energy exports including crude oil from Saudi Arabia and liquefied natural gas from Qatar have been effectively halted.

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