Iran launches maritime authority, insurance platform

Spanish Market: Crude oil, Fertilizers, Freight, LPG, Natural gas, Oil products
19/05/26

Iran has launched a new maritime authority to tighten its control over shipping in and around the strait of Hormuz. It has also introduced an insurance platform to provide cover for Iranian shipping and cargoes transiting the waterway.

The Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) will manage navigation through the waterway, while the "Hormuz Safe" platform will offer "secure digital insurance for maritime cargo" for Iranian vessels transiting it.

The PGSA will act as the legal authority representing Iran in managing transit through the strait, according to Iran's semi-official Fars news agency. Vessels intending to transit the waterway will receive rules and regulations from the authority and must obtain a permit to pass, state news agency Press TV said.

Ships must comply with this framework. Passage without permission will be considered illegal, Fars reported.

Iran claimed control of a broader area of the strait and surrounding waters on 4 May, from the western-most point of Iran's Qeshm Island to Umm al-Quwain on the UAE's west coast, and from Kuh Mobarak in Hormozgan province to southern Fujairah on the UAE's east coast.

Separately, the Hormuz Safe platform will provide Iranian shipping companies and cargo owners with "fast, verifiable digital insurance", according to its web page.

It will offer cover for cargoes in the Mideast Gulf and surrounding waterways, with payments settled in cryptocurrency. There is no indication that Hormuz Safe policies extend beyond Iranian ships and cargoes.

Iran has launched the initiatives as geopolitical tension remains high in the Mideast Gulf. The US and Israel's war with Iran has involved strikes on shipping in and around the strait of Hormuz, pushing up western insurance costs and sharply reducing traffic through the waterway.

A ceasefire is now in place, but the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' tight control of the strait and a US naval blockade of Iranian ports continue to weigh on exports of oil, gas and other commodities from the region.

Iran created an official PGSA account on social media platform X on 18 May to provide operational updates and developments related to shipping through the strait.

By Leonard Fisher-Matthews

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