Maersk said the U.S.-flagged Alliance Fairfax passed through the Strait of Hormuz under U.S. military protection, with its crew safe.
Maersk said one of its commercial vessels has passed through the Strait of Hormuz under U.S. military protection, confirming a closely watched transit through a waterway that has been largely shut to commercial traffic during the Iran war.
The Alliance Fairfax, a U.S.-flagged ship operated by Farrell Lines, a subsidiary of Maersk Line Ltd., completed the journey Monday without incident, Maersk said. The company said all crew members were safe and unharmed, and that the vessel had been stranded at sea since the U.S. and Israeli-led war against Iran began on Feb. 28.
The passage is part of President Donald Trump’s “Project Freedom” initiative, a U.S. military effort to help commercial vessels move through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow link between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The strait is a critical energy corridor: before the disruption, about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas moved through it.
U.S. Central Command said Monday that two U.S.-flagged merchant vessels had successfully transited the strait and that U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers were operating in the region. Maersk confirmed to CBS News that the Alliance Fairfax was one of the ships that exited the Persian Gulf accompanied by U.S. military assets.
The operation is unfolding against a volatile backdrop. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that the U.S.-Iran ceasefire “certainly holds” for now, while describing Project Freedom as a separate, defensive and temporary mission focused on commercial shipping. U.S. military leaders said American forces remain prepared to respond if the situation escalates.
Monday’s transit coincided with renewed hostilities around the strait and the wider Gulf. CBS News and Al Jazeera reported that U.S. Navy destroyers faced Iranian missiles, drones and small boats while protecting commercial vessels. Trump said U.S. forces destroyed seven or eight Iranian small boats during the encounter. The United Arab Emirates also reported missile and drone attacks originating from Iran, with Monday strikes wounding at least three workers, according to the captured reports.
Iranian officials have rejected Washington’s framing of the mission. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on social media that events in the strait showed “there’s no military solution to a political crisis,” while other Iranian officials have insisted Tehran remains able to control maritime traffic in the waterway.
For shipping companies, the next question is whether the Maersk-linked transit becomes a template or remains an exception. U.S. officials have said they are communicating with commercial vessels, companies and insurers, but they have not provided a full schedule for future passages or a clear timeline for normal traffic to resume through the Strait of Hormuz.
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