The first commercial ship successfully sailed through the Strait of Hormuz Friday after Iran agreed to reopen the vital waterway following a weeks-long closure.
The Celestyal Discovery cruise ship cleared the strait, just hours after Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced the narrow waterway was once again fully open to all commercial vessels — after the Iranian regime had threatened to attack any ship that transited it following the launch of the US and Israel’s war on Tehran.
The ship departed Port Rashid in Dubai at 11:36 a.m. local time – becoming the first passenger liner to exit the shipping lane since the start of the conflict, data from shipping tracker MarineTraffic showed.
The vessel, which carries about 1,360 passengers, was reportedly empty when it traversed the strait.
It is headed to Muscat, Oman, where it is expected to dock late Saturday afternoon, according to CruiseMapper.
The ocean liner, operated by Greece-based Celestyal Cruises, was one of several cruise ships either trapped in the Persian Gulf or forced to cancel scheduled sailings after the war eruptedon Feb. 28 and Tehran banging threatening to attack any vessels traveling through the strait, bringing commercial shipping in the region to a complete standstill.
As tensions escalated in the Middle East, Iran had littered the passage with explosives and repeatedly warned that it would attack any ship attempting to cross the critical chokepoint without its permission — and force them to pay tolls of up to $2 million.
Now that the US and Iran continue to negotiate a peace deal, after already agreeing to a 10-day cease-fire, Araghchi said the strait will remain open amid the temporary truce.
President Trump also announced Thursday that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 10-day cease-fire.
“In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of the ceasefire,” Araghchi said in an X post, although he didn’t specify which cease-fire.
Araghchi added that the critical passage is only open “on the coordinated route,” referring to a pathway previously approved by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Military vessels are reportedly still prohibited from crossing the waterway.
President Trump, meanwhile, declared on Truth Social Friday morning that the reopening of the strait would be permanent.
“Iran has agreed to never close the Strait of Hormuz again,” he wrote.
“It will no longer be used as a weapon against the World!”
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