Two China-Linked Container Ships From Cosco Make Hormuz Exit

Two container ships linked to China’s state-owned Cosco Shipping Corp. exited the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, the first vessels operated by a major Beijing-backed company to navigate the waterway since the start of the war.

The CSCL Indian Ocean and CSCL Arctic Ocean had made an attempt to transit at the end of last week, before turning back. They tried again on Monday morning, starting their almost 12-hour-long journeys from waters off Dubai and signaling Chinese ownership, ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show. They then took a route near Iran’s Larak and Qeshm islands at the narrow opening of the strait — a path apparently approved by Iran — before sailing into the Gulf of Oman.