# Cosco resumes some Gulf bookings as Iran grants safe passage to non-hostile ships
Chinese shipping giant Cosco is resuming new bookings for container shipments to several Gulf countries after a three-week suspension prompted by the Middle East war.
The packet’s AFP report says Cosco will restart bookings from the Far East to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq. The company had paused new bookings earlier in the month because of escalating conflict and restrictions on maritime traffic around the Strait of Hormuz. The resumption is immediate, but only for one direction of trade and only under changing conditions.
That caveat matters. The report says Cosco did not mention shipments traveling in the opposite direction from the Gulf, which suggests the route remains only partially reopened from a commercial standpoint. The company also warned that both booking arrangements and actual carriage could change because the situation in the region remains volatile. In other words, the restart is best read as a cautious adjustment rather than a full normalization.
The geopolitical backdrop is Iran’s statement that non-hostile vessels would be allowed safe passage through the strait. That signal may have given shipping companies room to test a partial return, but it does not remove the underlying security risk. The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints, and even limited uncertainty can force carriers to suspend, reroute or delay activity.
For Gulf trade, the practical effect is mixed. Resuming bookings can help restore some container flow into the region and reduce pressure on import schedules. But the absence of any clear guarantee for return shipments means logistics companies and customers still face planning problems. Costs can rise when insurers, operators and ports all have to price in a conflict zone.
Cosco’s decision also reflects the shipping industry’s broader attempt to balance commercial continuity with safety. A major operator can reopen bookings before conditions are fully stable if it believes the risk has eased enough for limited trade. The packet indicates that this is what is happening here: a partial restart under a warning label.
The evidence does not support a claim that all maritime traffic has normalized, only that one large carrier is once again accepting some Gulf-bound container bookings. That is a meaningful sign of adjustment, but not a declaration that the strategic chokepoint has returned to pre-war conditions.
