The container ship Astrid Maersk, operated by AP Moller-Maersk A/S, departs the port of Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, April 30, 2026.
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The chief executive of Maersk, one of the world’s largest shipping companies, said on Thursday that one of its commercial ships was able to successfully pass through the Strait of Hormuz due to a “very well executed mission” by the US Navy.
Maersk confirmed earlier in the week that Maersk Line Ltd. The US-flagged ship Alliance Fairfax, operated by Farrell Lines, a subsidiary of MLL, completed its transit through the narrow waterway and the Persian Gulf without incident on Monday alongside US forces.
In doing so, the ship became one of a relatively small number of ships to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz since the US and Israeli-led war against Iran began on February 28.
Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc said the company had deliberately taken a “very cautious approach”. during Middle East Crisis, choosing not to take any crossings despite many of its ships being stranded in the region.
“In this case here, the U.S. government and the U.S. Navy contacted us specifically saying they wanted to take some ships out,” Clerk told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Thursday.
He added, “We did extensive preparation with them, looking at all aspects of the mission and what we could do to protect the crew if we were sending a ship on that operation.”
“So, a very well executed mission by the U.S. military. And thank God for that, because then that means the ship is free, and the crew can now get back to doing the job they want to do and are supposed to do – instead of being stuck in the bay,” Clerk said.
The mission came as the US military sought to fulfill President Donald Trump’s short-lived “Project Freedom”, an initiative created to free ships stranded by Iran’s closure of a narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
‘Project Freedom’
US Central Command Said Two US-flagged merchant ships had successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz, it was reported via social media on Monday, adding that US Navy guided missile destroyers were operating in the area.
Trump then shut down “Project Freedom” on Tuesday, however, saying in a social media post that the movement of ships through the key maritime chokepoint would be halted to see if the US and Iran could agree to end the conflict.
Maersk’s CEO said the company still had eight ships stranded in the Persian Gulf, noting that this was a small number relative to its size.
“But this is clearly a situation where ultimately we will need to find a solution for all these ships,” Clerk said.
“Some of them should live in the Gulf and work there to move goods inside the Gulf, but most of them are stranded, and we want to give them employment outside the Gulf instead of getting them stranded there,” he said.
Maersk also reported underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $1.75 billion for the first three months of the year, in line with consensus estimates compiled by LSEG. It registered a decline of 35% compared to the same period a year ago.
— CNBC’s Chloe Taylor contributed to this report.
