Published: · Region: Middle East · Category: markets

Iran’s Hormuz Gambit Collides With Sanctions, Leaving Tanker Crews Exposed to Legal Crossfire

Tehran is pushing a joint plan with Oman to funnel all traffic through a new central corridor in the Strait of Hormuz, charging fees and tightening political control. But shipping sources say complying could violate U.S. sanctions and void war‑risk insurance, forcing shipowners and crews to choose between angering Iran or sailing uninsured.

Iran’s effort to rewrite the navigation map of the Strait of Hormuz is running into a hard limit: the global sanctions and insurance system that keeps most commercial shipping afloat. As Tehran and Muscat explore a new central shipping lane and Iran’s parliament weighs a bill to bar “hostile” traffic, industry sources warn that tanker crews could be left in legal and financial no‑man’s‑land. According to people familiar with Gulf shipping operations, Iran and Oman are discussing a phased plan to gradually replace the northern and southern traffic separation schemes in Hormuz with a single central corridor. Under the outline being floated, ships would initially enter the strait via the…

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