Sawt Falasteen - Container ship declaring French ownership passes through Hormuz strait

The Maltese-flagged Kribi belonging to the French maritime transport group CMA CGM crossed the strait -- which has been virtually blocked by Iran since early in the Middle East war -- to exit the Gulf on Thursday afternoon, the maritime tracking website showed.

It appears to be the first known transit by a major European shipping group since March 1, when Iranian attacks against ships near the Strait of Hormuz, in retaliation for US-Israel strikes, reduced crossings to a trickle.

The ship was off Muscat, Oman, early Friday, still broadcasting the message "owner France" on its transponder system in the field usually used to give the destination.

The vessel's navigation data showed it crossed via a new Iranian-approved route through its waters, dubbed the "Tehran Toll Booth" by leading shipping journal Lloyd's List.

At least two vessels have paid to use the corridor around Larak Island just off Iran's coast, a Lloyd's List Intelligence analyst said in a briefing on Thursday.

The few commercial vessels transiting through the waterway with their transponders on since the start of the war have passed close to Larak Island, according to maritime data analysed by AFP.

Most of the transits made since March 1 have been ships coming from or heading to Iran, with some linked to the United Arab Emirates, India, China or Saudi Arabia.

In peacetime, around 20 percent of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas passes through the chokepoint.

In early March, vessels began displaying links to China while sailing or anchoring in the Gulf region in a effort to signal political neutrality and reduce the risk of being targeted by Iran, according to analysts.

Beijing expressed "gratitude" on Tuesday after three of its ships passed through the strait, including two container ships on Monday belonging to state-owned shipping giant Cosco.

The war broke out on February 28, when the United States and Israel began bombing Iran, prompting Tehran to retaliate with strikes across the region and by severely restricting access to the Strait of Hormuz.

O.Salim--SF-PST