{"id":823,"date":"2026-09-25T11:47:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T11:47:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regulasshipping.com\/blog\/80-countries-call-for-hormuz-to-reopen-without-tolls\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T11:48:49","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T11:48:49","slug":"80-countries-call-for-hormuz-to-reopen-without-tolls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regulasshipping.com\/blog\/80-countries-call-for-hormuz-to-reopen-without-tolls\/","title":{"rendered":"80 countries call for Hormuz to reopen without tolls"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bahrain\u2019s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani read a joint statement on Thursday, 24 September, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, speaking for a group of 80 countries that included Gulf Arab states, major Western powers, South Korea and Cyprus. The statement called for the urgent and full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and for the safe, secure and unimpeded transit of all vessels \u201cwithout the imposition of tolls, conditions or illegal charges,\u201d in accordance with navigational rights under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. \u201cIran\u2019s actions in the Strait of Hormuz continue to threaten international security and navigational rights and freedoms,\u201d the text said. Al Zayani added that, five months after the group\u2019s last press takeout on the same issue, \u201cthe threat we face remains very real and continues to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement is a diplomatic product, not a UKMTO, NAVAREA or IMO routing measure and not a sailing window. It does not restore transit passage, it does not cancel Iran\u2019s still-unenacted Hormuz penalty bill, and it does not move a hull. Operators should treat it as a coordinated political demand for UNCLOS-style transit without a service-unrelated charge, placed on the same New York week as Iran\u2019s seven-day reopen talk and the United States\u2019 blockade of Iranian ports. Those files remain separate. A statement that 80 capitals will not accept a toll is not evidence that the southern lane is open, that AIS will recover, or that a Wednesday US-official count of about 60 ships can be read as a verified commodity day.<\/p>\n

What the 80 countries actually asked for<\/h2>\n

The operative language is narrow and repeated. The group called for the urgent and full reopening of Hormuz; for safe, secure and unimpeded passage of vessels; and for that passage to take place without tolls, conditions or illegal charges, in line with UNCLOS, so that further disruption to global trade is avoided. \u201cWe call for the full restoration of free transit in accordance with navigational rights and freedoms, without delay,\u201d the statement said. It paid tribute to crews still working the region and said commercial shipping and seafarers \u201cmust never be used as leverage.\u201d That sentence tracks language IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez has used when asking states to stop attacking merchant ships and to restore navigation without discriminatory fees.<\/p>\n

The group also reaffirmed support for UN Security Council Resolution 2817, adopted on 11 March with 13 votes in favour and abstentions from China and Russia. That resolution condemned Iranian strikes against Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, and condemned actions or threats aimed at closing or obstructing international navigation through Hormuz. Thursday\u2019s statement added a Red Sea paragraph: it strongly condemned the Houthis\u2019 decision to resume conflict in Yemen, their continuing strikes on Saudi Arabia and their \u201creckless attacks in the Red Sea,\u201d and said the group\u2019s advance toward Bab el-Mandeb would only heighten risks to shipping, maritime security and global trade. Al Zayani, speaking to reporters, cited Wednesday\u2019s attack on a commercial vessel off Oman that killed an Indian crew member and Thursday\u2019s six Houthi ballistic missiles toward Saudi Arabia, which the coalition said it intercepted at Taif and Yanbu.<\/p>\n

The same week\u2019s regulatory backdrop is why the \u201cno tolls\u201d line matters for operators even though the statement cannot move traffic. Iran\u2019s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission approved Articles 13 to 15 of the \u201cStrategic Action to Ensure Security and Development of the Strait of Hormuz\u201d on 22 September. Article 13 would apply the Islamic Penal Code and allow seizure of 20 percent of cargo or value plus temporary detention until paid, with specialised maritime-court branches. That text is not law. Full Majlis and Guardian Council approval are still required. The IMO\u2019s established position remains that a coastal state may charge only for services actually provided, not a transit levy on a strait used for international navigation. Oman\u2019s earlier voluntary-contribution idea and last month\u2019s committee service-fee language sit in that same file. Thursday\u2019s 80-country text is a political rejection of any of those charges being treated as a condition of passage. It is not a published tariff, and it is not a ruling that a future Iranian court order is unenforceable against a particular hull.<\/p>\n

Operational picture the statement does not change<\/h2>\n

gCaptain\u2019s Thursday wrap attached an IMO count of at least 84 merchant-shipping incidents in Hormuz and the wider Middle East since 28 February, with 23 seafarers killed. Friday shipping reports, including Cyprus Mail, put the Organisation\u2019s tally at 85 confirmed incidents and 24 deaths as of 24 September, up from 80 incidents and 22 deaths on 16 September. Those increments include the 16\u201318 September UKMTO cluster, the 21 September inbound tanker and outbound LPG debris files, and Wednesday\u2019s Cape Dao hit off Musandam. None of that is reversed by a joint statement in New York.<\/p>\n

Visible commodity traffic remains a thin, AIS-incomplete series. Preliminary Kpler figures published on Friday showed nine Hormuz crossings on Thursday against 14 a day earlier and a 10-day average of about 18, with eight ships leaving and one Handymax dry-bulk entering. The outbound set included a ballast very large gas carrier and a fully laden VLCC; the rest were Panamax, Supramax and short- and medium-range tankers. AIS-off hulls are excluded. Pre-war traffic was around 125 large commercial ships a day, carrying about a fifth of global oil and LNG. The 25 September morning Regulas note recorded a US official\u2019s unverified claim that about 60 commercial vessels and 22 million barrels moved on Wednesday. That claim and Thursday\u2019s nine-ship AIS print are different censuses. Neither is a reopen.<\/p>\n

The statement\u2019s Red Sea paragraph is also not a corridor. Houthi forces still hold Mocha, Mayyun (Perim), the Hanish islands and the Yemeni Red Sea coast taken in the second week of September. Yahya Saree\u2019s \u201csafe except Saudi\u201d line remains the published targeting rule. France\u2019s Thursday offer of soldiers, radars and defence systems for Yanbu, covered in this morning\u2019s Regulas note, is a load-port shield if it arrives. It is not a Bab el-Mandeb escort and it is not what the 80 countries asked for. UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres warned in August that simultaneous pressure on Hormuz, Bab el-Mandeb and the Black Sea was \u201cchoking arteries of global trade.\u201d Thursday\u2019s text repeats the navigational-rights demand. It does not create a mechanism, a start date, or a listed-area change.<\/p>\n

For Cyprus, which the published signatory list includes, the statement landed in a week when Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos met Al Zayani in New York and the Cyprus Marine Club in Limassol discussed war-risk response across Hormuz, the Red Sea and the Black Sea. International Chamber of Shipping Secretary-General Thomas Kazakos told an Arria-formula Security Council meeting on 17 September that \u201cshipping must not be held to ransom\u201d and that ships should not have to negotiate passage or accept arbitrary restrictions because tensions had risen. That is the industry ask the 80-country text is trying to put in diplomatic form. It is still an ask.<\/p>\n

What Operators Should Note<\/h2>\n