n recent days, the operator of an oil tanker stuck in the Persian Gulf received a compelling proposal. After weeks at anchor with missiles and drones passing overhead, it could finally sail safely out through the Strait of Hormuz and into the open ocean — escorted by the Iranian Navy.
But first it would need to change its registration and raise the flag of Pakistan, according to a company executive, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive conversations.
The company wasn’t able to take up the offer, which came from the government of Pakistan. Iran agreed to allow 20 Pakistani vessels to transit through the strait, but the country only had a few flagged ships in the Gulf. Islamabad began reaching out to some of the world’s biggest commodity traders to see if they had vessels that could transit Hormuz while temporarily sailing under a Pakistani flag, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.
One of the people said that Pakistan was looking for the biggest ships it could find within the region, including oil supertankers capable of carrying 2 million barrels each. Arranging their passage would be a way to show the success of diplomatic efforts to bring the conflict to an end. At least two large oil trading houses have received the offer.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Maritime Affairs did not respond to requests for comment.
The arrangement shows how Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is exerting considerable control over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the critical maritime chokepoint through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas normally transits. People in the shipping industry and government officials with direct knowledge of negotiations said that the IRGC is already extracting tolls from vessels passing through, and giving preferential treatment to ships from countries it deems to be friendly, while threatening to attack those from countries it sees as aggressors.
Iran’s National Security Committee has approved a bill that would impose fees on Strait of Hormuz, the semi-official Fars news agency reported, citing a member of the committee.
The contours of a more formal system are now emerging, based on the accounts of multiple multiple people with knowledge of the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity as they aren’t authorized to talk to the media.
Ship operators have to contact an intermediary company linked to the IRGC, and provide information about their vessel’s ownership, flag, the cargo manifest, destination, crew list, and data from its automated identification system, or AIS — a transponder that ships use to record and broadcast their position.
The intermediary passes the file onto the IRGC Navy’s Hormozgan Provincial Command for background checks on the ship to make sure that it has no links to Israel or the US, or other states that Iran considers to be enemies.
If a vessel makes the cut then discussions over the toll begin. The people said that the Iranians have a ranking system of one to five for nations, with ships from countries that are seen as friendly more likely to get better terms. For oil tankers, the starting price in the negotiations is typically around $1 per barrel of oil, paid in yuan, or stablecoins — cryptocurrencies pegged to the value of hard currency.
A very large crude carrier, or VLCC, typically has a capacity of around 2 million barrels.
