Prominent Greek shipping mogul willing to pay Iranian transit toll in Hormuz
Greek shipping mogul Evangelos Marinakis has said he is prepared to pay Iran a transit fee in order to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and that the fee would help compensate Iran for “damage” inflicted by the US-Israeli war on the Islamic Republic.
“For me, it is better to pay a fee of $100,000 or $200,000, depending on the size of the cargo or the size of the vessel, than to have all this hassle,” Marinakis said at a forum hosted by TradeWinds News at a Posidonia shipping event in Athens on Tuesday.
In a statement shared with MEE on Wednesday, Marinakis said "I would prefer to pay a toll for the right to navigate through the Strait of Hormuz immediately and safely, rather than pay huge extra war risk premiums".
"This means cargo flow resumes immediately- oil, gas, [and] raw materials economies stop being hurt and destroyed, and crews navigate safely," he added.
Marinakis, who owns over 150 vessels - including oil tankers, LNG carriers and bulk carriers - said that the money extracted from a toll “can pay for all the damage of what has happened so far”.
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Marinakis also owns the football clubs Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told The Financial Times in May that Iran should not impose a toll in the waterway. Greek families dominate global shipping and Greek vessel owners control about 20 percent of the world’s fleets.
Another Greek shipping tycoon, George Procopiou, said this week at the Posidonia Forum that Greek sailors have a tradition of “breaking blockades” and rejected any effort to establish a toll.
Procopiou’s company, Dynacom, is one of the few that has sent vessels through the Strait of Hormuz amid the war, profiting from higher shipping rates.
A ship owner familiar with the matter previously told Middle East Eye that the vessels had paid transit fees to Iran in Chinese yuan.
Iran has been pressing for its right to enact a toll in the Strait of Hormuz as an outcome of any deal to end the war. It has sought to bring Oman onto its side as the only other country whose territorial waters extend over the strait.
According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, countries can stake a claim up to 12 nautical miles for their territorial waters. The Strait of Hormuz is just 21 nautical miles wide at its narrowest point.
Countries whose coasts border international straits are prohibited from restricting transit through their territorial waters or charging tolls.
But legal experts tell MEE there are plenty of examples Iran could use, from “piloting fees” to “fees for service”, in order to charge vessels if Oman cooperates.
The US has rejected any Iranian bid to impose a toll in the waterway.
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