Shipping Groups Warn Against UN Fees on Hormuz Transit

Industry Coalition Raises Alarm Over Potential Hormuz Charges

Eight major shipping trade associations have jointly written to the United Nations to caution against allowing any toll or fee system to be imposed on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. According to a report by Maritime Executive, the letter was submitted on Monday, August 3, and addressed to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez, amid reports that Oman and Iran are close to finalizing an arrangement to jointly manage traffic through the strait.

The signatories include the International Chamber of Shipping, ASA, BIMCO, CLIA, ECSA, INTERCARGO, INTERTANKO, and the World Shipping Council — a group collectively representing containership, tanker, bulker, and passenger vessel interests worldwide.

Concerns Beyond Direct Costs

While the associations flagged the obvious financial burden that transit charges would place on operators, their letter emphasized a broader worry: precedent. The groups argued that introducing compulsory transit charges, or fees functioning as tolls under another name, would mark a sharp break from long-standing international norms governing straits used for global navigation.

They warned that once such a mechanism is accepted in one chokepoint, it becomes far harder to prevent similar charges from spreading to other straits, injecting lasting uncertainty into global trade and shipping economics. The letter also cautioned that this could erode the legal framework recognizing transit passage rights, a principle the groups called foundational to international maritime governance. They urged the UN and IMO to keep freedom-of-navigation rights separate from any political negotiations over the strait’s control.

Political Backdrop: A Possible Oman-Iran Deal

The letter arrives as reports circulate that Oman and Iran have reached terms to split oversight of the Strait, with Iran reportedly taking responsibility for inbound traffic to the Persian Gulf. U.S. officials have indicated a deal could be close, though the Trump administration has not detailed how any such arrangement would work in practice, and it remains unclear how oversight would actually be implemented.

Meanwhile, U.S. Central Command maintains that the so-called southern route near Oman remains open to commercial traffic, stating that its forces have assisted more than 1,000 vessels transiting the strait over the past three months despite what it describes as Iranian aggression. Yet tracking data reportedly continues to show vessels steering clear of that route, and there are ongoing reports of ships being fired upon or struck during transit attempts — a discrepancy between official assurances and observed vessel behavior.

What This Means for Owners and Managers

For ship owners, managers, and charterers, this dispute is about far more than the immediate cost of a hypothetical toll. A fee regime imposed unilaterally, or as part of a bilateral political deal between two coastal states, would set a template that other governments controlling strategic waterways could replicate. That raises real questions for voyage planning, chartering clauses, and insurance in any strait-adjacent trade — not just Hormuz.

It also underscores the value of independent, documented verification when transiting contested or politically sensitive waters. Vessels navigating near Hormuz under disputed jurisdictional claims, amid conflicting official statements about safety, have every incentive to maintain thorough condition, bunker, and cargo documentation before and after transit. Should a dispute arise over damage, delay, or fee liability tied to a transit incident, well-documented survey records give owners and charterers a defensible position — independent of whatever political framework eventually governs the strait.

The outcome of this dispute may ultimately hinge less on legal argument than on whether major flag states and shipping nations are willing to accept a de facto toll simply to keep tonnage moving through one of the world’s most critical chokepoints. Until then, the gap between official claims of an open route and the on-the-water reality reported by tracking data is likely to remain a central operational concern.

Reviewed by Ibrahim Halil Ceylan, Marine Surveyor at Apeks Marine.