While the U.S. and Israel have spent a month trying to force the Strait of Hormuz open, today two Chinese container ships sailed right through without a single shot fired. The CSCL Indian Ocean and CSCL Arctic Ocean, operated by China’s state-owned Cosco Shipping, exited the Persian Gulf smoothly. They are the first vessels from a major Beijing-backed company to complete the transit since the war broke out on February 28.

What makes this even more dramatic: these same ships attempted the crossing on March 27, but Iran’s Revolutionary Guard forced them to turn back. Today they made it through: CSCL Indian Ocean crossed at 08:47 UTC and CSCL Arctic Ocean at 09:14 UTC, both departing from waters off Dubai on an almost 12-hour journey through the controlled corridor near Larak and Qeshm islands.

Both are ultra-large container ships of about 19,000 TEU that had been stranded in the Gulf since the conflict began. They were sailing empty, broadcasting “CHINA OWNER” on their identification systems, heading to Port Klang, Malaysia.