Strait of Hormuz grand opening tomorrow however everybody’s too scared to step foot in it
The Strait of Hormuz is likely to reopen tomorrow but countries needing to pass through will probably be too scared to send their ships into the troubled waters.
A senior Iranian official told the Reuters news agency that Tehran could open the Hormuz Strait on Thursday or Friday ahead of the country’s meeting with the US in Pakistan, if a ceasefire framework is reached. But several countries needing to pass through have already said they are frightened of making the move.
Denmark and Norway, among others, have spoken of the risk they still fear in passing through the Strait even though a ceasefire deal has supposedly been reached between Iran and the US and Israel.
Danish shipping company Maersk has said the two-week ceasefire agreed between the US and Iran could open some opportunities for vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, but did not yet provide enough security certainty to resume normal operations.
“At this point, we take a cautious approach, and we are not making any changes to specific services,” the shipping group said in a statement.
“Any decision to transit the Strait of Hormuz will be based on continuous risk assessments, close monitoring of the security situation, and available guidance from relevant authorities and partners.”
Maersk, one of the world’s biggest container shipping groups, last month suspended cargo bookings to many ports in the Gulf region and introduced emergency bunker fuel surcharges around the world to compensate for rising fuel costs.
For Norway, the two-week ceasefire agreed has not yet brought enough certainty for Norwegian ships to resume sailings through the Strait, the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association said.
The industry group, representing 130 companies with some 1,500 vessels globally, said the security situation in the Gulf remains uncertain and owners are seeking further information.
(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
“We note the signals of a ceasefire, but the situation in the Strait of Hormuz remains unresolved and unpredictable,” the group’s CEO Knut Arild Hareide said in a statement.
“It is not yet clear under what conditions safe transit can be carried out. Shipowners are assessing the situation and will not resume transits until there is real security for safe passage.”
Arsenio Dominguez, the head of the International Maritime Organization, issued a statement welcoming the US-Iran ceasefire deal. He added he is working “with the relevant parties to implement an appropriate mechanism to ensure the safe transit of ships through the Strait of Hormuz”.
In a statement published on the organisation’s website and shared on X, he said: “For the health and wellbeing of seafarers and the global shipping industry, I welcome the ceasefire announced in the Middle East.
“The priority now is to ensure an evacuation that guarantees the safety of navigation.”
The cost of insuring a ship to travel through the Strait has leaped to about 5% of the value of a ship, roughly five times the level seen in the earliest days of the Iran war. This means insuring an oil tanker worth $100million would cost about $5million. So there’s that to think about as well.
US president Donald Trump last night announced an eleventh hour ceasefire agreement with Iran. But Tehran have revealed a ‘humiliating’ list of demands presented to Trump including a staggering $2million (£1.1million)-per-vessel charge to use the Strait of Hormuz.
The US President declared the two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran just before his deadline to send Iran “back to the stone age”. In a post on his social media site, Trump said that could Iran agree “to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz” then he would “suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks.”
Since the outbreak of the war in February, Trump has made a series of demands and threatened to escalate the conflict if they were not met. In his most violent threat on Tuesday, Trump claimed a “whole civilization will die” if Iran failed to comply with his demands.
The ceasefire agreement was reached after Pakistan facilitated discussions between the US and Iran. Trump said: “This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE! We received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate.
“Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated.
“On behalf of the United States of America, as President, and also representing the Countries of the Middle East, it is an Honor to have this Longterm problem close to resolution.
“Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
