Pakistan’s Karachi port has received its first container vessel to transit the Strait of Hormuz since the beginning of the Iran war on Feb. 28, officials said on Saturday, marking a shift after weeks in which cargoes bound for the country were rerouted outside the strategic waterway.
The development comes as US and Iranian delegations began talks in Islamabad following the announcement of a temporary truce announced earlier this week, after Pakistan urged a two-week ceasefire and convinced the two sides to give diplomacy a chance.
The war in Iran disrupted global shipping routes, particularly fuel supplies passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for world energy trade, which Tehran decided to shut down.
“This is the first container ship which has arrived at Karachi International Container Terminal (KICT) sailing through the Strait of Hormuz since the beginning of this war,” Sharique Amin Farooqui, the Karachi Port Trust’s (KPT) spokesperson, told Arab News.
Officials say earlier vessels carrying oil, bulk and containerized cargo for Pakistan had been diverted away from the Strait despite reports that Tehran had allowed limited shipments, making the latest arrival the first confirmed Karachi-bound container vessel to use the route since the war began.
Farooqui said all vessels that had previously called at local ports during the conflict were rerouted from Gulf shipping lanes and had not entered the Strait of Hormuz.
KPT also confirmed in a separate statement that MV SELEN, operated by Pakistan’s military-owned National Logistics Cell, berthed at the Karachi port.
NLC recently acquired a 30 percent shareholding in the state-run Pakistan National Shipping Corporation.
“Arriving from Jebel Ali, the vessel’s berthing signals the resumption of containerized trade and reinforces confidence in maritime supply chains,” the KPT said.”The development reflects effective coordination among port, shipping, and logistics stakeholders to sustain cargo operations,” it added. The arrival of the container vessel comes amid the US-Iran ceasefire after a massive disruption of international shipping since late February, with many vessels avoiding the Strait of Hormuz, which lies along Iran’s southern coast.