Cruise Ships Take Advantage of Brief Window to Escape the Strait of Hormuz

Five of the six cruise ships stranded in the Arabian Gulf since the onset of the Iran war had cleared the Strait of Hormuz by Saturday. 

MSC Cruises confirmed that MSC Euribia was safely out, while TUI cruises reported the successful passage of Mein Schiff 4 and Mein Schiff 5. Celestyal Discovery and Celestyal Journey had also cleared the contested strait, according to AIS data. The last remaining ship is the Aroya Manara, operated by the Saudi Arabian cruise line Aroya Cruises.

Taking advantage of the relative calm with the current ceasefire and reports that the Strait of Hormuz is open, the first of the cruise ships began their outward journey. 

The ships had been trapped inside the Persian Gulf for the past 47 days, at ports including Port Rashid, UAE and Doha, Qatar. Passengers were repatriated early on in the conflict.

The stranding of the ships for six weeks was especially challenging for Celestyal, a two-ship cruise line which was forced to cancel revenue trips through the end of April. The company is endeavouring to resume commercial service in the Greek Islands in early May.

The cruise ships took advantage of a brief window of opportunity after the United States and Iran declared the opening of the Strait of Hormuz on Friday. The respite did not last long. By Saturday, Iran had reimposed “strict control” on the Strait, and news reports said two Indian-flagged ships were fired upon.