Since February 28, when the United States and Israel struck Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been constructing its tollbooth with methodical precision. Ships wishing to transit must approach an IRGC-linked intermediary and submit documentation: the vessel’s International Maritime Organization number, crew list, cargo manifest, destination, and automated identification system data. The IRGC screens the file. Nations are ranked one to five based on perceived friendliness; India, Pakistan, China, and Iraq are, for now, on the right side of that ledger. If the vessel passes, a clearance code and routing instructions follow. As it approaches the narrow channel north of Larak Island, off Bandar Abbas, it broadcasts its code over VHF radio and is met by an IRGC patrol boat, which escorts it through what Lloyd’s List Intelligence has taken to calling Tehran’s tollbooth. The charge for an oil tanker starts at approximately one dollar per barrel of cargo. For a Very Large Crude Carrier loaded with two million barrels, that is USD 2 million per transit, payable in Chinese yuan or stablecoins. Iran’s Parliament passed a bill recently to formalise the arrangement, with tolls denominated in rials.
One should also look at the traffic data. Before the war, roughly 135 commercial vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz each day, carrying approximately 20 million barrels of oil and liquefied natural gas, one-fifth of global daily supply. In the last week of March, 24 vessels made the crossing. That is a decline of 96%. Since March 13, all 57 recorded transits have used the Larak detour. The normal shipping lane saw zero traffic since March 16, until the ceasefire that was announced today.
Source link
[ad_3]
