“This large-scale operation will be carried out in close cooperation with Iran, Oman, all other littoral states in the region, the United States and the maritime industry,” said IMO chief Arsenio Dominguez, according to Reuters. “We have ensured the necessary security guarantees and have thoroughly verified the conditions for safe navigation in order to support these operations,” he added.
The IMO notice included instructions from Oman on how ships could navigate the strait, which forms the bottleneck to the Persian Gulf, through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas destined for trade passed before the war.
“Vessels will be contacted individually and given information on the transit day assigned to them by the parties coordinating the procedure with the IMO,” the Omani government said in detail, adding that two temporary routes can be used when the pattern of usually used shipping routes through Iranian and Omani waters “is not safe.”
Tehran paralyzed shipping in the strategic Strait of Hormuz in response to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran that began on February 28. Later, he began to allow sailing only to certain vessels that obtained a permit from him. In May, Iran confirmed that it collects fees for the “navigation services” it provides to passing vessels. Before the war, however, he did not restrict navigation through the strait in any way.
The Strait of Hormuz is an important transport artery for the export of oil and gas from the countries of the Persian Gulf. On Monday, US Vice President JD Vance said the strait is open. Vance announced this after the first round of high-level US-Iranian talks ended in Bürgenstock, Switzerland.
According to the specialized platform AXSMarine, since the signing of the US-Iranian memorandum of understanding on June 17, shipping in the Strait of Hormuz has noticeably intensified. Between June 18 and 22, an average of 29.2 crossings per day were recorded in the strait, compared to an average of 4.9 per day in the first 17 days of the month.
