Container ship HMM Daon was again seen moving in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. The 16,000 teu vessel of South Korean shipping line HMM was leaving the Persian Gulf, according to maritime tracking websites.
The movement of the container ship is seen as a cautiously positive signal for international shipping. The HMM Daon operates in a Middle East-Asia-US East Coast service of the Premier Alliance and was heading out of the region on Tuesday morning.
The fact that a large container ship is again sailing through the Strait of Hormuz does not mean the situation is immediately back to normal. It does suggest that shipping traffic is slowly restarting after months of blockades, threats and uncertainty in the Persian Gulf.
Another encouraging sign is the possible introduction of a direct communication line between Iran and the United States. This hotline should help resolve misunderstandings around the Strait of Hormuz more quickly and reduce the risk of new incidents.
Behind the scenes, negotiations are continuing on the future status of the strait. Iranian chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf travelled to Oman for talks about the Strait of Hormuz after earlier discussions with US Vice President J.D. Vance.
Iran has again indicated that, as far as the regime is concerned, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz will never return to what it was before the war. After an agreed toll-free period of sixty days, Iran may charge vessels service costs. Oman, however, stresses that the strait will remain toll-free and that international rules must be followed.
Further information on international container flows can be found on the pages about sea freight, container handling and road transport.
The Paya Lebar of Singaporean shipping line SeaLead was also heading north through the Strait of Hormuz. That vessel reportedly sailed through the strait several times in recent months despite the various blockades.
The oil trade remains the priority. According to ship data analyst AXS Marine, large oil tankers, known as VLCCs, mainly need to be moved out of the Persian Gulf. Smaller shuttles are also being used to transfer oil outside the Strait of Hormuz to waiting tankers.
...before the war, around 110 to 120 vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz every day? Current numbers remain clearly below that level.
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