The French-owned ship CMA CGM Kribi passed through the strait on Thursday afternoon, maritime traffic websites show.
The ship clearly signaled its origin, flying a Maltese flag, and followed a course along the Iranian coast.
The Panama-flagged ship Sohar LNG, co-owned by shipping companies from Japan and Oman, also passed. The ship, carrying natural gas, left the Persian Gulf on Friday, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK.
Grip on the strait
In its war against the US and Israel, Iran has tied control of the narrow Strait of Hormuz to its countermeasures, with enormous economic consequences. Ships trying to pass are threatened with attack, but a limited number of ships from countries with which Iran has better relations have been allowed to pass.
The Kribi is owned by CMA CGM SA, the world's third-largest shipping company. Neither the company nor France's foreign or finance ministries have commented or responded to questions about how the ship was able to pass.
At least two more ships appear to have passed through the strait in the past 24 hours, but on the opposite side of the strait, and both were identified as owned by shipping companies in Oman.
Will help each other
French President Emmanuel Macron is in South Korea. He met with President Lee Jae-Myung on Friday, after US President Donald Trump complained that allies were not helping the US and Israel in their war against Iran.
Macron and Lee appeared together at a press conference. They stressed that they would work together to restore trade through the Strait of Hormuz. However, the two presidents did not elaborate on how this would happen and did not take any questions.
Trump recently said that countries with greater economic interests should step in and protect those interests in the Strait of Hormuz. He has specifically targeted South Korea, Japan and China.
Almost a fifth of the world's total oil and gas exports pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Most of the cargo ships that travel through this route have destinations in Asia.
