Norway shipowners still hesitant to let ships pass through Strait of Hormuz

The two-week ceasefire agreed between the United States and Iran has not yet brought enough clarity for Norwegian ships to resume sailings through the Strait of Hormuz, the Norwegian Shipowners' Association (NSA) said on Wednesday.

The industry group, representing 130 companies with some 1,500 vessels globally, said the security situation in the Gulf remains uncertain and that owners were seeking further information.

"We note the signals of a ceasefire, but the situation in the Strait of Hormuz remains unresolved and unpredictable," the NSA's CEO Knut Arild Hareide said in a statement.

The disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important maritime chokepoints, has forced shipping companies to suspend sailings, reroute cargo and rely on costly workarounds to keep goods moving across the Gulf.

"It is not yet clear under what conditions safe transit can be carried out. Shipowners are assessing the situation and will not resume transits until there is real security for safe passage," Hareide said.

Denmark's Maersk MAERSKb.CO, one of the world's largest container vessel companies, earlier on Wednesday said the ceasefire announcement did not yet provide enough certainty to resume normal operations in the area.

French President Emmanuel Macron said about 15 countries were planning to facilitate the resumption of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

-Reporting by Jesus Calero, editing by Terje Solsvik/Reuters