Chinese shipping giant Cosco, which operates one of the world’s biggest oil tanker fleets, announced it was suspending services to and from Gulf countries from Wednesday, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait.

The state-owned, Shanghai-based firm is among several major shipping groups that have halted vessel operations in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global energy transit.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed total control of the strait on Wednesday as Israel launched a new wave of strikes on the Iranian capital.

Cosco Shipping Lines said it would “suspend all new bookings” for routes through the Strait of Hormuz “with immediate effect until further notice”.

The company blamed the disruption on “the escalating conflicts in the Middle East region and the resultant restrictions on maritime traffic” in the strait.