Iran’s Hormuz tolls would set a dangerous precedent, says global shipping watchdog

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Allowing Iran to charge tolls for transit through the Strait of Hormuz would mark a dangerous and unacceptable precedent, according to the head of the world’s main shipping watchdog. 

Iran charged vessels for passage through the waterway that handles for about a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas flows during the conflict. Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz – which has included tolls – was one of Tehran’s conditions for the ceasefire, according to the state media.

“This is a dangerous precedent,” Mr Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization, said in a Bloomberg TV interview.

“What we cannot have is this different or parallel approach where another country introduces a different mechanism that is not in line with international practice, and we don’t even know if it guarantees the safety of the ships,” he said.

On April 8, US President Donald Trump made conflicting claims about the ceasefire deal, including suggesting a joint US-Iran toll system for ships in Hormuz. For now, maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains largely halted.

Mr Dominguez said his agency is working to re-establish the mechanisms that allowed ships to cross the Strait of Hormuz before the war. Prior to the conflict, vessels generally crossed the waterway using what is known as an international traffic separation scheme. 

A group of countries, including Britain, are working on plans to establish that there are no mines in Hormuz in order to confirm that it’s safe to transit, Mr Dominguez said. There has not been any confirmation that there are mines in the waterway so far, he added. BLOOMBERG