A CMA CGM container vessel was hit by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz Saturday—one of multiple ships that reported being under fire on as tensions in the oil conduit re-escalated over the weekend.
The vessel was the subject of “warning shots,” the ocean carrier confirmed in a statement. The ship’s crew is safe and unharmed. Although CMA CGM did not directly name the vessel, various reports indicate the ship was the ultra-large French-flagged CMA CGM Everglade.
Despite indications on Friday morning from President Donald Trump and Iran’s top foreign diplomat that the strait was “completely open” for commercial ships, attacks in the passage resumed over the weekend, with Iran’s joint military command saying Saturday the strait has “returned to its previous state.”
Since April 13, the U.S. Navy has imposed a naval blockade of Iran’s ports and coasts as it attempts to get leaders of the Islamic republic to the negotiating table for a deal that would end the war that began late February.
President Trump told Bloomberg Monday morning it was “highly unlikely” the U.S. would extend its two-week ceasefire with Iran that expires Wednesday, and said the Strait of Hormuz would remain blocked until an agreement is finalized.
U.S. delegation, including Vice President JD Vance, is currently expected to depart for Pakistan Tuesday to meet with Iranian representatives for a second round of negotiations.
According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the CMA CGM vessel sustained damage limited to some containers, and the vessel remains operational. No pollution was reported. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre said the incident took place 25 nautical miles northeast of Oman.
Container shipping companies have largely avoided the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war due to the ongoing safety threat posed throughout the near-two-month conflict. Since Feb. 28, ship tracking intelligence provider MarineTraffic has recorded 24 separate physical attacks on vessels, including the Everglade incident.
“We are now back to square one,” said Lars Jensen, CEO of container shipping consultancy Vespucci Maritime, in a LinkedIn update on Sunday. “The Iranian authorities have clearly stated the Strait of Hormuz is again shut and only a select few vessels will be allowed to transit. And those vessels paying a toll will get priority. Or as the Iranians phrase it, they will prioritize those who ‘pay the costs of security and safety services,’ everyone else will be postponed.”
The vessel was part of a group of four container vessels CMA CGM attempted to exit from the Persian Gulf in the brief window where transits were allowed.
Along with the Everglade, which can carry roughly 15,300 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), three other CMA CGM vessels reversed course after the attack. This includes the CMA CGM Manaus, the CMA CGM Galapagos and the CMA CGM Diamond.
Unlike many of its major Western ocean carrier competitors that stayed put in the Persian Gulf, CMA CGM had already navigated the Hormuz strait with one of its vessels, the CMA CGM Kribi, earlier this month.
Two Indian-flagged ships—the Jag Arnav bulk carrier and Sanmar Herald oil tanker—also reported they were fired upon by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy on Saturday. Both vessels said they endured damage, although no casualties or injuries were reported.
As vessels of all origins remain concerned about safe passage through the strait, the U.S. blockade is also escalating tensions in the wider region.
On Sunday, the U.S. Navy attacked and seized the Iranian-flagged ship M/V Touska in the Arabian Sea near the Strait of Hormuz. The container vessel was steaming toward Bandar Abbas, Iran, after having departed Port Klang in Malaysia on April 12.
The ship is owned by the Mosakhar Darya Shipping Co, which has an address in Tehran and is subject to U.S. sanctions.
“It’s tempting to say we are right back where we started, but with the U.S. firing on and boarding the Touska, the risk of escalation against vessels is now at its highest point,” said Destine Ozuygur, a senior market analyst at Xeneta, in a LinkedIn post Monday morning.
Ports in the surrounding region have continued to see significant congestion, with the operational disruptions weighing on arrival times.
Container ships are arriving at an on-time rate of just 35 percent over the past two weeks, according to Xeneta. In that time frame, at least one out of every seven vessels have arrived at least a week late.
Khor Fakkan Port, which sits on the eastern coast of the U.A.E., has a 62 percent port congestion ratio, the freight benchmarking company said. Xeneta’s congestion ratio calculates the number of ships waiting to call at the port divided by the total number of vessels already docked.
South Asian ports, which have been a popular destination for vessels that have sought alternatives to service loops involving the Persian Gulf, still experience the most severe congestion among their peers.
Mundra Port has a 61 percent congestion rate as of Monday, while another Indian port, Nhava Sheva Port, and Sri Lanka’s Port of Colombo, both have a 58 percent ratio.
