Ships Identify Themselves as Chinese Around Strait of Hormuz During Iran War to Avoid Attacks

Some commercial ships near or in the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf have declared themselves as China-linked since the Iran war began, marine traffic data show, as their operators apparently try to reduce risks of being targeted in attacks. At least eight vessels in or near the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman changed their declared destination signals to short messages such as “CHINA OWNER” or “CHINA OWNER&CREW,” according to data on the ship tracking platform MarineTraffic analyzed by The Associated Press. “The main goal of vessels publicly identifying themselves as ‘Chinese’ while transiting the Gulf or the…