COSCO, China’s biggest shipping line, will resume deliveries to the Persian Gulf for the first time since early March, it said in a notice to customers on Wednesday.
The state-owned company, which handles just over 10 percent of the world’s seaborne freight, said it was taking bookings for standard containers from Asia to ports in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq.
Container ship and tanker traffic in the Gulf has fallen over 90 percent since Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz to non-Iranian vessels in response to the U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign that began on February 28.
President Donald Trump has said the United States and Iran are engaged in ceasefire talks and his administration has sent a 15-point peace plan to Tehran via Pakistan, according to multiple agencies.
COSCO’s announcement may point to confidence that the negotiations could lead to an easing of tensions in the region, although the company said bookings and transportation were subject to change “in view of the volatile situation in the Middle East.”
Despite claims of peace talks between Washington and Tehran, a renewed U.S. military buildup is ongoing to the region with the expected arrival of several naval groups carrying thousands of Marines.
All six Gulf nations listed in COSCO’s notice have been hit by Iranian drones and missiles since the start of the war. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have attacked oil and gas infrastructure and sent prices skyrocketing due to losses and uncertainty of supply.
Tehran said recently it would allow “non-hostile” vessels to transit the Strait of Hormuz via direct negotiations with the Iranian government. Oil tankers have used the waterway for a fee reported to be in the region of $2 million.
Four weeks into the Iran crisis, vessel traffic to the Gulf remains low, with the except of Iranian oil tankers linked to its sanctioned fuel trade. China buys most of Iran’s crude exports.
COSCO previously suspended container services to the Middle East on March 4. It said it would continue to monitor developments in the region.
“The disruption to global maritime trade following Iran’s announcement of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz on 2 March, 2026, has resulted in outbound traffic from the Persian Gulf tracked by [automatic identification system] coming to almost a complete halt,” the World Trade Organization (WTO) said in new analysis published on Tuesday.
“Given the strait’s central role in global energy and commodity flows, the disruption has immediate implications for export supply chains, shipping patterns and global markets,” the WTO said.
Only six ships—two cargo vessels and four outbound tankers—transited the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, down from a prewar average of 138 crossings a day, the U.S.-run Joint Maritime Information Center said in its last advisory.
Around 20 civilian ships have been attacked by Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf since the start of the war.
In a polarized era, the center is dismissed as bland. At Newsweek, ours is different: The Courageous Center—it’s not “both sides,” it’s sharp, challenging and alive with ideas. We follow facts, not factions. If that sounds like the kind of journalism you want to see thrive, we need you.
When you become a Newsweek Member, you support a mission to keep the center strong and vibrant. Members enjoy: Ad-free browsing, exclusive content and editor conversations. Help keep the center courageous. Join today.
