Ships flagged to Western nations and Japan — countries classified as U.S. allies that had faced difficulty transiting the waterway — have recently passed through the Strait of Hormuz, even as the Iran war-triggered blockade continues to drive energy prices sharply higher.
Bloomberg reported on the 3rd (local time), citing ship-tracking data, that the CMA CGM Kribi sailed from waters near Dubai in the United Arab Emirates toward Iran the previous afternoon and transited the Strait of Hormuz.
The vessel, whose owner was identified as French through the Automatic Identification System (AIS), followed the route between Larak Island and Qeshm Island — the detour lane recently demanded by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The following morning, the ship reported its position near Muscat, Oman, having cleared the strait.
Bloomberg noted this was the first time a Western European-linked vessel had passed through the Strait of Hormuz since the outbreak of the Iran war. Iran has claimed the strait is "not closed," while threatening to block ships linked to the United States and Israel.
The Kribi, registered in Malta, belongs to French shipping giant CMA CGM. With a capacity of approximately 5,000 TEU (one TEU equals one 20-foot container), the vessel is smaller than the 19,000-TEU ships operated by China's COSCO Shipping that recently transited the Gulf waters through the strait.
France is not the only case. The Asahi Shimbun reported that a Japanese-flagged liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier was confirmed to have passed through the Strait of Hormuz on the same day. According to the Asahi Shimbun, this was the first time a Japanese merchant vessel had transited the strait since the war began.
The Sohar, registered in Panama and operated by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, had been holding in the Persian Gulf within 100 kilometers of the strait before making the passage. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines told the Asahi Shimbun that "both the crew and the vessel are safe."
With ships from Western nations and Japan — traditionally classified as U.S. allies — passing through the strait one after another, the stalled energy transport is expected to gain momentum.
The key question is whether these vessels paid transit fees. The IRGC is known to classify countries into tiers one through five, charging a "Hormuz transit fee" on more favorable terms for friendlier nations. However, with fees reportedly starting at $1 per barrel and potentially ballooning to as much as $2 million (approximately 3 billion won), and with Iran under U.S. sanctions, countries are unlikely to easily accept the toll system.