The International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency, said Monday that it opposes transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz after President Donald Trump demanded that ships pay protection money.
“We have always been consistent on our stance on fees – IMO stands firmly against charging fees for passage through straits used for international navigation,” a spokesperson said.
“There is no legal basis through which to introduce mandatory tolls simply to transit through a strait,” the spokesperson said.
Trump on Monday said the U.S. military will protect ship traffic through Hormuz, but demanded reimbursement equivalent to 20% of the value of all cargo that is transported through the strait. He ordered the U.S. Navy to reimpose its blockade of Iranian ships.
“The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran,” Trump said. “We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving. All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait.”
Iran has demanded in the past that ships pay a toll to safely transit Hormuz. Tehran agreed it would not charge a toll for 60 days under the memorandum of understanding it signed with the U.S. on June 17.
Nordic American Tankers CEO Herbjorn Hansson told CNBC in an interview that he views Trump’s 20% fee as unrealistic. Iran and the U.S. have to agree on the how the strait will be administered, Hansson said.
“Iran is suffering, America is suffering, 192 countries outside the Hormuz Strait are suffering,” the CEO said.
Tolls to transit Hormuz are against international law, said James Kraska, an expert on international maritime law at the U.S. Naval War College. The world has an unimpeded right to transit Hormuz, Kraska said.
The security situation in Hormuz has deteriorated since Iran attacked multiple commercial ships transiting the strait over the past week. Tehran is demanding that all ships use a northern route through its territorial waters. The U.S. Navy has been helping ships through a southern corridor along Oman’s coast.
The U.S. has launched multiple waves of airstrikes against Iran in retaliation for the ship attacks. Tehran has responded by firing on U.S. allies in the Gulf.
Iran cannot unilaterally impose a change to traffic routes through Hormuz under the Convention on the International Maritime Organization and the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, Kraska said. Iran has a legal duty to comply with the traditional route through Hormuz, known as the traffic separation scheme, due to its obligations under those treaties, he said.
