News / Box ships attacked from both sides as confusion reigns in Hormuz

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Containerships are being dragged into the conflict in the Strait of Hormuz after the US seized one and the Iranians fired on another –barely a day after claims from Tehran that the waterway was again “completely open”.

Marking the first interception of a vessel since imposing a blockade last Monday, US Central Command confirmed on X that US marines had successfully rappelled from a helicopter onto the 5,000 teu Iran-flagged Touska before seizing it, posting a video of the assault.

While Donald Trump responded to the seizure by claiming the US Navy had “stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in their engine room”, the Iran military described the act as “armed maritime piracy”, labelling the US the “leader of sea pirates”.

Destine Ozuygur, senior market analyst at Xeneta, told The Loadstar that despite the vessel being Iran-flagged, it was operating on the only direct service between China and Iran and was “fairly critical to their [Iran’s] container trade”.

On Friday, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X that the waterway was now “completely open for the remaining period of the ceasefire”, for which President Trump thanked Iran.

However, Ms Ozuygur told The Loadstar she was “highly sceptical of those comments as serving any purpose from a functional standpoint”, claiming the US naval blockade had only raised the risk for carriers.

“It should not be interpreted as a return to freedom of navigation by any means, they are validating that they are still allowing passage under coordinated conditions, and the US is now backing that claim despite simultaneously conducting a naval blockade,” she added.

Noting the CMA CGM Antonio had turned back from transiting the strait shortly after the blockade announcement, Ms Ozuygur proved prophetic; Iran following up Sunday’s US seizure by firing warning shots at another boxship, the CMA CGM Everglade.

“On Friday, I spoke to friends in the press and cautioned that Iran’s claims of an ‘open’ strait were still functionally conditional, highly controlled, and an inherent threat to freedom of passage,” she said this morning.

“The events over the weekend unfortunately proved those statements to be too true. In the span of a few days, we’ve gone from dual control to ceasefire, no ceasefire, and now attacks against vessels by both the US and Iran.”

The French liner confirmed that its vessel had been fired on, but noted it sustained neither damage nor crew injuries, even if it meant all five of the CMA CGM vessels that attempted to exit the strait after the apparent reopening had failed to do so.

Ms Ozuygur described the present moment as one in which “the risk of escalation against vessels is now at its highest point”.

She added: “Critically, the Touska was over 300 nautical miles east of Bandar Abbas in the Gulf of Oman when attacked, highlighting that the US military is casting a wide net in the enforcement of their blockade,” noting it “might challenge” Iran to take similar actions.