Greek Shipping Tycoon Agrees To Pay Hormuz Transit Fee, Says It Could Pay For Damages Inflicted On Iran

Greek shipping tycoon Evangelos Marinakis said that he is ready to pay a transit fee to Iran for keeping the Strait of Hormuz open to commercial ships.

He also added that the fee would compensate Iran for damages inflicted on the Islamic Republic by the US-Israeli war.

Marinakis, who owns 150 ships including LNG carriers, bulkers and oil tankers, said that the money earned from the toll fee could help rebuild Iran.

These comments have put him at odds with the Trump administration and the Greek Government.

Another Greek shipping Giant, George Procopiou, rejected the idea of a toll fee in Hormuz and said that Greek sailors are known to break blockades.

Procopiou’s company, Dynacom, is one of the few that sent ships through the Strait of Hormuz amidst the war and earned a lot from higher shipping rates.

According to reports, the ships had paid the toll fee to Iran in Chinese yuan.

The U.S. is strictly against the imposition of tolls in Hormuz and has told Iran not to use it as a bargaining strategy with Washington.

Iran has made it clear that the right to manage ships in the Hormuz lies with it and Oman, the only other country whose territorial waters extend over the strait.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea states that nations can claim up to 12 nautical miles for their territorial waters, and Hormuz is 21 nm wide at its narrowest point.

However, countries whose coasts border international straits cannot restrict transit through their territorial waters or charge any tolls.

Experts suggest that there are many ways by which Iran could justify this move, from imposing “piloting fees” to “fees for service”, to charge ships if Oman also cooperates.