Trickle of box ships brave mines to pick their way through Hormuz
A few days into peace talks being held in Switzerland between the US and Iran, ...
MSC Clara - Giwrgos Mertis
By Alison Koo
Six MSC box ships stranded in the Strait of Hormuz managed to escape on Saturday by turning off their AIS transponders.
The ships resumed AIS transmission once they were safely out of the Arabian Sea.
Linerlytica’s report this week notes that the largest, the 19,224 teu MSC Clara, also happened to be the largest container vessel stranded in the Persian Gulf when the US-Israel-Iran war broke out on 28 February.
The others were the 16,000 teu MSC Grace, 13,102 teu MSC Margrit XIII, 9,200 teu MSC Madeleine, 11,660 teu MSC Francesca and the 6,673 teu Epaminondas.
SeaSearcher’s vessel-tracking data shows the MSC ships now in the Arabian Sea and appear to be approaching India’s west coast.
Their successful escape – along with two smaller ships at the weekend – Apollo Eastern-managed 1,030 teu Bhagya Laxmi and AD Ports Group’s 2,702 teu SSF Valence – have brought down the number of containerships stranded in the Gulf to fewer than 100, with a total capacity of 270,000 teu, compared with a peak of 430,000 teu.
LInerlytica noted that the Bhagya Laxmi had led a 12-ship convoy that included the MSC ships and SSF Valence and four CMA CGM ships – the 15,254 teu CMA CGM Everglade, 2,592 teu CMA CGM Manaus, 15,254 teu CMA CGM Galapagos and 3,534 teu CMA CGM Diamond.
However the CMA vessels were spotted by Iran Revolutionary Guard and ordered to reverse course.
SeaSearcher data now shows CMA CGM Everglade as nearing Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa port, while the status of CMA CGM Manaus and CMA CGM Galapagos is shown as “stopped” near Jebel Ali and CMA CGM Diamond stopped around Sharjah.
Linerlytica said ships are again stranded in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran vowed to retaliate after the US seized the IRISL-operated 5,125 teu Touska inbound from Port Klang to Iran.
The consultancy said: “The US blockade on Iranian ports has made little difference thus far, with at least seven Iran-linked ships able to bypass the blockade in the past week alone.”
Inside the industry’s AI shift
Complete The Loadstar’s ‘State of AI in the Supply Chain’ survey — and receive the full report and data before release.
Comment on this article