Ships pay passage through Iran’s ‘Toll Booth’ - Lloyds List
At least two vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz have paid Iran for safe passage, Lloyd’s List Intelligence reported on Monday, noting that commercial traffic is increasingly diverting into Iranian territorial waters through what has been dubbed the “Tehran Toll Booth.”
The route runs between Iran’s Qeshm and Larak islands, where the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is understood to be verifying vessel details and, in some cases, collecting fees.
One fee is reported to have been $2 million, the report said.
Among more than 20 vessels of over 10,000 deadweight tons that have taken the detour so far were two so-called “zombie” tankers sailing under the identities of decommissioned ships, the report said, citing shipping data.
It added that despite the conflict sharply reducing overall traffic through the strait, the pace of transits picked up over the weekend.
At least 16 vessels have crossed the chokepoint since Friday, the analysis suggests, with most tracked sailing along the new corridor through Iranian waters.
