US blockade unlikely to change Hormuz shipping hiatus: IMO chief<\/p>\n
The US blockade of Iranian ports will do little to change the effective halt in shipping transits via the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran\u2019s control of the key energy shipping route has choked off normal trade flows since late February, the head of the International Maritime Organization said April 13.<\/p>\n
Following the collapse of US-Iran weekend peace talks in Islamabad, US Central Command started to enforce a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports from 1400 GMT on April 13.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t see a big change right now in the status quo \u2026 A further blockage right now doesn\u2019t really change the fact that there\u2019s no normal trade,\u201d Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said, joining the industry chorus of opposing the imposition of a toll system.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdditional blockade just doesn\u2019t really help anything in finding a solution to the conflict,\u201d he told reporters in the UN agency\u2019s headquarters in London.<\/p>\n
Iran has seized control of the Strait of Hormuz \u2014 a key chokepoint handling 20% of global oil and LNG flows in normal times since its war with Israel and the US started Feb. 28, only allowing access to its own tankers and a limited number of ships, nearly all of them associated with Asian countries.<\/p>\n
S&P Global Commodities at Sea(opens in a new tab) data showed 18 ships passed through the strait on both April 11 and April 12, the highest number since March 1 but still significantly down from 135 before the start of the war.<\/p>\n
With some 20,000 seafarers stranded aboard ships in the Persian Gulf, the IMO has been working with Iran, Oman, the US and other relevant countries in establishing a safe Hormuz passage mechanism by utilizing the Traffic Separation Scheme, according to Dominguez.<\/p>\n
The TSS was the trading lane used by ships before the conflict, but Iranian authorities have routed ships toward waters near Larak Island during their Hormuz passage while parliamentarians have spoken of charging a toll of $2 million per transit. Some ships have occasionally traveled close to the Omani coast during their transits.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the countries need to respect the right of passage and the right of free navigation, and there\u2019s no legal mechanisms to introduce any type of toll,\u201d said Dominguez.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I will ask everyone to actually play by the rules and not to be participants in these kinds of measures.\u201d<\/p>\n
On April 12, US President Donald Trump also vowed to interdict ships that had paid a toll to Iran when announcing the US blockade.<\/p>\n
When asked to comment on the development, the International Chamber of Shipping said it is opposed to any measures by any party that infringe upon the right of innocent passage or disrupt international shipping.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no legal basis nor a mechanism for the establishment of tolls in international straits and this could set a dangerous precedent for international shipping,\u201d the industry body representing over 80% of global merchant fleet said. \u201cWe strongly encourage operators to monitor and comply with all official naval and governmental advisories in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
Security officials have had mixed reactions to recent US actions, which involve mine clearance in the strait by CENTCOM but could trigger further retaliation by Iran and Yemen-based Houthi militants, which have threatened to support Iran by exerting control over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe shipping industry is concerned about breaches of international conventions and the attack on the right to freedom of navigation,\u201d industry association BIMCO\u2019s Chief Security Officer Jakob Larsen told Platts, part of S&P Global Energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe risk of further escalation to involve direct attacks on ships is also of concern, as well as the wider impact on the international economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corey Ranslem, CEO at security consultancy Dryad Global, said the US military presence could bring most of the remaining Hormuz traffic to a halt before restoring cargo flows.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe this could potentially help to increase the security within the region and help to fully open the strait on a much faster timeline,\u201d Ranslem said.<\/p>\n
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