Shipowners hold off on Hormuz transit until US-Iran deal proves ‘material’

Shipowners ⁠will not resume transit through ⁠the Strait of Hormuz for weeks until they are confident that the US-Iran deal is “material”, the CEO of Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines told the Financial Times in an interview published ‌on Tuesday.

The Iran war that began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes largely stopped shipping through the transit route for around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supply, along with products such as aluminium and urea.

Mitsui O.S.K., one of Japan’s ⁠big three shipping firms, has a fleet of more than 900 vessels, including ‌bulk carriers, tankers and ferries.

“What will have to come in place is not just a simple agreement between the ‌relevant countries, but it has to be material and translated into ⁠the real ⁠situations in the Strait of Hormuz, so that shipping lines can make themselves comfortable to go ‌through,” Mitsui O.S.K.’s Jotaro Tamura told the FT before US President Donald Trump announced a deal to ‌end the war ‌in Iran.

“Given the experiences in the last couple of months, ‌I think it’s reasonable to assume that it may take at least ⁠a couple of weeks or if not a month,” Tamura told the paper.