Several Chinese-bound cargo ships and tankers passed through the Strait of Hormuz through Iran’s “safe” maritime corridor in the past 24 hours, ship tracking data showed on Wednesday, as US President Donald Trump is on a visit to China for talks expected to focus in part on the war with Iran and the reopening of this key energy route, Anadolu reports.

Data from the ship tracking platform. MarineTraffic reported that the Chinese-flagged oil tanker Yuan Hua Hu was sailing through the strait on Wednesday, south of Iran’s Larak Island.

The vessel’s Automatic Identification System (AIS), which transmits position, origin and destination, listed the destination as “Chinese owner and crew”.

The vessel Yuan Hua Hu is owned by China COSCO Shipping Corporation, based in Shanghai.

The route followed by the ship was part of a corridor that Iran has described as “safe” and “permissive” for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important maritime points for the transportation of oil and liquid gas.

At least four ships linked to China followed the same corridor from Tuesday to Wednesday, according to the analysis.

Starway, a oil and chemical tanker, passed through the strait on Tuesday from Omani waters to waters north of the United Arab Emirates. The Deepblue, also a tanker and reported to be owned by a Shanghai-based company, sailed in the opposite direction from west to east.

The Xian Jiang Kou, a vehicle carrier that left Saudi Arabia on March 16 and had been in the Persian Gulf until Tuesday, also crossed the strait, using the Iranian corridors south of Larak Island. Its destination on the AIS was listed as “Chinese vessel and crew”.

The ship movements occurred as Trump was en route to China for a state visit that had been postponed for six weeks due to the US-Israel war against Iran.

During talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump is expected to seek greater support from Beijing, which maintains close ties with Tehran, for efforts to end the war and reopened the Strait of Hormuz to wider commercial traffic.

The strait has remained effectively closed to most shipping since the start of the war with Iran, causing serious disruptions to global energy and commodity flows. Only a few ships have passed through the canal in recent weeks, with Iran allowing limited transit through its system of permit corridors.

Source: prizrenpost