Shipping giant Cosco restarts cargo bookings for Middle East

Chinese shipping company Cosco has resumed bookings to send cargo containers to the Middle East.

New bookings to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq will resume immediately, Cosco said in a statement. The service from Asia was suspended on March 4 because of the Iran conflict.

Tehran said on Tuesday that it would allow “non-hostile vessels” to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

It has closed the strait to most shipping since early March, in response to the US-Israeli strikes that began on February 28.

Cosco said new Middle East bookings and deliveries were subject to change due to the volatile situation.  

“We will continue to monitor the further developments in the Middle East,” the Chinese state-owned company said.

The Iran conflict has roiled the energy and logistics sectors. About one-fifth of global oil and liquified natural gas supplies would usually transit the Strait of Hormuz.

Nearly 3,200 ships are currently anchored in the Gulf, according to the Financial Times.

Last week the Saudi Ports Authority added five shipping services to the Red Sea in response to the Hormuz blockage.

• GCC asked to help evacuate 20,000 Hormuz seafarers
• Cashflow woes on horizon for UAE companies hit by Hormuz crisis
• Ships test ‘Iran-approved’ Hormuz corridor