As IMO Meets to Discuss Hormuz, Iran Sets Up its Own Shipping Corridor
As maritime nations gather at IMO in London this week to debate solutions to the Strait of Hormuz crisis, evidence is growing that Iran has already created one of its own design: an Iranian-controlled shipping corridor, set up to close most of the width of the strait and funnel approved vessels through a narrow channel in Iranian waters.
Signs of the new corridor's existence have been building for days, though no official announcements about the route have been made yet. AIS tracks for multiple outbound vessels show traffic flowing through the five-mile-wide gap between the islands of Qeshm and Larak, flanked by Iranian shores on both sides. Short of a voyage up the north shore of Qeshm, there are few locations more thoroughly exposed to Iranian scrutiny and control in the strait.
According to Israeli journalist Nadav Eyal, recent reports of small-scale Iranian mine laying appear to be part of this plan. An Israeli official told Eyal that Iran has deployed a dozen large naval mines in the strait in order to close it and create "a shipping lane that it controls."
Lloyd's List has secured confirmation of the lane's existence and some of the details of its operation. Iranian officials are negotiating with foreign governments to arrange the release of ships caught inside the Gulf, allowing out a small number at a time by diplomatic agreement. Extensive documentation about each ship is shared in advance with Iranian officials, and the vessel is subject to visual inspection as it passes between Qeshm and Larak. In at least one identified case, the shipowner paid $2 million to obtain authorization for the transit, Lloyd's List reported.
At IMO, member states call for solutions
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On the first day of a two-day emergency IMO summit in London, member state representatives from the Gulf region traded accusations about the events of the war. Others proposed plans for a neutral shipping corridor - separate from the Iranian arrangement - to allow trapped vessels and humanitarian cargoes to depart the Gulf. Others appealed to the combatant states to protect freedom of navigation and the safety of the seafarers caught in the middle of the conflict.
"This situation is unacceptable and unsustainable. Shipping has demonstrated time and time again how resilient it is, but geopolitics are testing the sector to the limit," said IMO Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez in opening remarks. "And every time shipping is used as collateral damage in these conflicts, the whole world is negatively affected, from the global economy to food security, underlying the importance of freedom of navigation, seafarers and the sector as a whole."
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