China shipping giant Cosco resumes bookings to some Gulf countries
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Chinese shipping giant Cosco operates one of the world’s largest oil tanker fleets.
PHOTO: AFP
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BEIJING – Chinese shipping giant Cosco said on March 25 that it was resuming new bookings for container shipments to some Gulf countries after a three-week suspension in response to the Middle East war.
The state-owned Shanghai-based firm was among several major shipping groups to pause operations in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes normally.
Tehran has said several times that it was not targeting friendly nations, but transits through the strait had nevertheless largely ground to a halt.
Iran, in a statement circulated by the International Maritime Organization, said on March 24 that “non-hostile vessels” would be granted safe passage through the waterway.
Cosco “resumed new bookings for general cargo containers for shipments” from the “Far East” to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq “with immediate effect”, according to a company statement.
It did not mention shipments travelling in the opposite direction, from the Gulf.
“New booking arrangements and the actual carriage are subject to change due to the volatile situation in the Middle East region,” it added.
Cosco, which operates one of the world’s largest oil tanker fleets, announced on March 4 that it would suspend new bookings for services for routes through the Strait of Hormuz owing to the “escalating conflicts in the Middle East region and resultant restrictions on maritime traffic”. AFP
