French-owned CMA CGM vessel crosses Hormuz amid Iran diplomacy
The Kribi's April 2 transit and an AIS signal reading “Owner France” suggested Iran may not be treating France as a hostile state in the Hormuz crisis.
- A container ship owned by the French group CMA CGM has successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz, the first French-owned vessel to do so since recent regional hostilities began.
- To signal its neutrality to Iranian authorities, the vessel changed its Automatic Identification System (AIS) destination to "Owner France" before entering the strait.
- The passage occurred on the same day French President Emmanuel Macron publicly stated that diplomacy with Iran, not military action, was the only way to reopen the strategic waterway.
A container ship owned by French shipping group CMA CGM has passed through the Strait of Hormuz, with shipping data showing it changed its destination signal to “Owner France” before entering Iranian waters, in a possible sign that Iran does not regard France as a hostile state.
MarineTraffic vessel-tracking data showed the Malta-flagged Kribi crossed the Strait on April 2, becoming the first French-owned vessel to make the passage since US-Israeli attacks on Iran began at the end of February.
Before the war led to the effective closure of the waterway, the Strait handled about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.
It was not immediately clear how the ship secured safe passage. Data showed the Kribi sailing south along the coast of Oman. CMA CGM did not respond to a request for comment, while President Emmanuel Macron’s office also did not immediately respond to questions over whether the French government had helped broker the vessel’s passage.
The transit came on Thursday, the same day Macron said reopening the Strait through military action would be unrealistic and that only diplomacy could work.
“This Strait must be reopened because it is strategic for energy flows, fertilisers and international trade, but it can only be done in consultation with Iran,” he said.
Macron has worked with European and other allies to build a coalition to guarantee free passage through Hormuz once hostilities have stopped. French diplomats have also spent the past week trying to soften a resolution at the United Nations Security Council that would have enabled forceful action in the Strait of Hormuz.
LSEG shipping data showed that before entering Iran’s territorial waters on Thursday, the vessel changed its Automatic Identification System destination to “Owner France”, signalling to Iranian authorities the nationality of its owner.
Ships have used similar tactics before to assert neutrality while transiting conflict zones. Several Chinese vessels that have passed through the Strait also changed their destinations to “Chinese owner & crew”.
The ship had originally been bound for Pointe-Noire in the Republic of the Congo.
Reuters
