Kazakos steps up ICS push against Hormuz tolls

International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) secretary general Thomas Kazakos has raised the organisation’s push for a toll-free Strait of Hormuz with Kuwait’s ambassador to the UK, as the shipping body continues its campaign against charges or controls on vessels using international straits. The International chamber said Kazakos met Badar A. Almunayekh, Kuwait’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, at the country’s embassy in London, with discussions focusing on freedom of navigation and the ability of merchant ships to move through international waterways “safely, predictably and without unnecessary impediment”. The meeting forms part of the ICS “No Tolls/No Control Change” campaign, which is pressing for freedom of navigation and a toll-free Strait of Hormuz. At the heart of the campaign is the organisation’s position that merchant ships must be able to use international waterways without compulsory charges or measures controlling their passage. According to the ICS, proposals surrounding the Strait of Hormuz have taken several forms, including “tolls”, “charges for services”, “compulsory insurance” and, most recently, “cargo charges”. The chamber argues that there is no legitimate basis for compulsory charges for transit or mechanisms controlling vessels passing through an international strait, warning that internationally recognised navigation rights should not become bargaining tools in wider political negotiations. Under international law, there is no legal basis for imposing a toll simply for exercising the right of transit through Hormuz, although charges may be levied where a vessel receives a specific service, according to the ICS’ position on international waterways. The organisation has also warned that the issue goes well beyond the immediate cost to shipping. Additional costs imposed on maritime transport, it argues, would eventually work their way through international supply chains, contributing to higher energy prices, inflation and economic uncertainty, while any attempt to control which vessels may transit Hormuz could create a precedent for other international straits. Kazakos has been particularly vocal on the issue. In a July statement, he said the principle of freedom of navigation had been sidelined during the conflict, disrupting global trade and important energy supply routes. “There is no legal mechanism by which a toll or restrictions can be placed on vessels passing through the Strait,” Kazakos said at the time. He added that attention should turn to a permanent return to vessels being able to pass through the Strait of Hormuz “unimpeded without paying a toll or other clearance mechanism”. The latest meeting with the Kuwaiti ambassador follows a wider diplomatic push by the ICS. During August, the organisation met ministers in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, while also preparing briefing material for its members to raise the matter with their national governments. It also contacted the UN Security Council president ahead of a potential discussion of the issue, according to its August update. Earlier that month, the ICS coordinated a joint letter to UN secretary-general António Guterres and International Maritime Organisation secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez opposing compulsory tolls or charges in Hormuz. The letter was signed by eight maritime associations, the Asian Shipowners Association, BIMCO, Cruise Lines International Association, European Shipowners, Intercargo, Intertanko, ICS and the World Shipping Council. The IMO has taken a similar position. Its Council in July reaffirmed that the right of transit passage through straits used for international navigation must not be threatened, impeded or suspended, while specifically stating that passage through the Strait of Hormuz should remain free of tolls and charges. The position was set out following the Council’s 137th session. IMO secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez has also stressed that “the principle of freedom of navigation is not negotiable”, during an April summit on freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. The issue remains particularly pressing because of the continuing disruption around Hormuz. For the ICS, however, the concern is also what could come next. The organisation argues that introducing tolls, compulsory charges or controls in Hormuz could weaken the long-established international framework governing straits and make similar measures more difficult to resist elsewhere. Kazakos’ meeting with the Kuwaiti ambassador therefore marks the latest step in a campaign that has moved beyond public statements and into direct diplomatic engagement with governments in and around the region.