A "new normal" of heightened risk and uncertain regulation is impacting the Strait of Hormuz, shipping firm Hapag-Lloyd warned Sunday, as military strikes escalated and conflicting routing directives plunged the waterway into operational chaos.
The remarks from the airstrikes against Iranian targets, including Qeshm Island on June 26 after a vessel was struck in the strait.
This prompted Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to retaliate by targeting U.S. military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Adding to the strike risk is a tug-of-war over control of the transit lanes.
Iranian state television said that passage through the Strait of Hormuz demands coordination with the IRGC.
Hapag-Lloyd pushed back against any future attempts to weaponize or monetize passage through the critical global chokepoint.
"It would be fundamentally wrong to impose fees for passage through international waters," Richter said.
"Fees for infrastructure such as the Suez Canal or the Panama Canal are a different matter, as they reflect major infrastructure investments. That is not the case with the Strait of Hormuz."
While thousands of crew members remain caught by conflicting naval directives, Hapag-Lloyd said it had successfully navigated the initial bottleneck.
"Good news is that we were able to have all Hapag-Lloyd vessels that were affected by the temporary closure of the Strait of Hormuz and had been waiting in the Persian Gulf depart safely from the Gulf," Richter noted before adding that "the safety of our crews is our highest priority."