European carriers cautious on Hormuz return as traffic stalls

Commercial transit through the Strait of Hormuz ground to a halt on Sunday, just 48 hours after Iran's foreign minister declared the waterway reopened, leaving Europe's biggest container lines and tanker operators weighing whether to risk the passage.

Observed crossings fell to zero on 19 April, according to Bloomberg ship-tracking data, after at least 13 oil tankers turned back toward the Persian Gulf on Saturday amid reports of gunfire and fresh warnings from Tehran. The reversal followed a statement by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi that the strait was "completely open" to commercial traffic.

Hapag-Lloyd said its crisis committee had convened to assess the new Iranian transit regime, which requires coordination with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and restricts vessels to lanes near Larak Island. The German group said it hoped to resume sailings quickly but flagged outstanding questions on mine risk and insurance. Maersk, the Danish market leader, said it was monitoring conditions and would act on its own risk assessment. CMA CGM and Norway's Frontline declined to comment.

The hesitation matters for European importers. Brent crude, which peaked above $116 a barrel during the blockade, has retreated to roughly $83, offering relief to Continental refiners whose Middle Eastern feedstock flows collapsed in early March. Rotterdam bunker prices have eased in tandem, though underwriters remain wary. London's Joint War Committee has kept much of the Gulf inside its listed high-risk area, and marine brokers at Marsh indicate war-risk premiums could stay elevated for weeks.

Analysts at Kpler cautioned that the Larak routing raises compliance questions for EU-flagged tonnage, particularly given the bloc's sanctions regime. Belgian, Dutch and French mine-clearance assets have been floated in Brussels as a possible contribution to any multinational escort effort, though no formal tasking has been announced.