June 16 (Reuters) - Shipowners will not resume transit through the Strait of Hormuz for weeks until they are confident that the U.S.-Iran peace deal is "material", the CEO of Japan's Mitsui O.S.K. Lines told the Financial Times in an interview published on Tuesday.
The war, which began in late February, has largely halted shipping through the key route for around a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supply, along with products such as aluminum and urea.
"Given the experiences in the last couple of months, I think it’s reasonable to assume that it may take at least a couple of weeks or if not a month," Jotaro Tamura told FT, before U.S. President Donald Trump announced a deal to end the war in Iran.
The agreement between Washington and Tehran has not changed Tamura's view, the FT report said.
"We recognize that there are signs of movement toward a ceasefire. However, operations will not be resumed until safety has been sufficiently confirmed," Mitsui O.S.K. said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
"The resumption of transit will require close coordination with the governments of the relevant countries, insurers, and other stakeholders," the Japanese shipping giant added.
Mitsui O.S.K., one of Japan’s three biggest shipping firms, has a fleet of more than 900 vessels, including bulk carriers, tankers and ferries.
Trump in a Truth Social post on Monday said that ships loaded with oil are starting to move out of the strait, "going along the Southern 'Highway,' which is totally safe, secure, and pristine".
(Reporting by Anusha Shah and Abu Sultan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
