COSCO Shipping has resumed bookings with Gulf countries, but its vessels will not pass through the Strait of Hormuz for the time being.

COSCO Shipping Lines previously issued a service notice: effective immediately, new booking services (general containers) for routes from the Far East to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Iraq—the Middle Eastern Gulf countries—are resuming. However, this resumption of shipments does not mean that COSCO Shipping's container ships can pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Multiple COSCO Shipping sources indicated that vessels will not transit the strait for the time being. Instead, similar to CMA CGM's previous plan, containers will first be transported by sea to the ports of Sohar in Oman, Khor Fekam and Fujairah in the UAE, and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on the east side of the strait, and then transported to these countries via land-based transshipment. (Caixin.com)