Sawt Falasteen - Shippers eye Iran Hormuz reopening with wariness

Iranian forces' closure of the strait has trapped hundreds of ships in the Gulf and driven up the costs of shipping goods, with captains avoiding the region for fear of attacks or mines.

A spokesman for German transportation giant Hapag-Lloyd, which has ships stuck in the Gulf, told AFP by phone that the reopening was "in general... good news".

But he cautioned that shippers still needed details of what route vessels could take and in what order, citing fears of sea mines.

"One thousand ships cannot just go now to the entrance of the strait, that will be chaos. They (the Iranians) need to give clear orders," said the spokesman, Nils Haupt.

"We would be ready to go very soon if some of these open questions can be solved within the weekend."

Bloomberg data indicated there were about 770 vessels used for carrying commodities sending transponder signals inside the Gulf on Thursday, of which about 360 were oil and gas carriers.

Before the war, average daily crossings of the strait overall numbered about 120, according to industry journal Lloyd's List.

- 'Inaccurate' -

Afer Iran's announcement on Friday, US President Donald Trump said the Islamic republic had declared the waterway "fully open and ready for full passage".

Jakob Larsen, chief security officer of major shipping association BIMCO, said in a statement emailed to AFP that this claim was "inaccurate".

"The status of mine threats in (Iran's maritime) traffic separation scheme is unclear, and BIMCO believes shipping companies should consider avoiding the area," he said.

The secretary general of leading industry lobby the International Chamber of Shipping, Thomas Kazakos, said the announcement was "a positive step (but) there is still much uncertainty around what it means in practice".

In a statement sent to AFP, he said it offered "a cautious measure of reassurance to" shippers and the thousands of seafarers stuck in the Gulf by the Middle East war for nearly seven weeks.

"It is essential that it marks the beginning of a broader and more durable return, beyond the current ceasefire, to freedom of navigation in one of the world's most critical maritime corridors," he said.

Y.AlMasri--SF-PST