Maritime Security and Safety
U.S. Slaps Sanctions on Iran’s Hormuz Toll Authority as Maritime Extortion Crisis Deepens
U.S. Slaps Sanctions on Iran’s Hormuz Toll Authority as Maritime Extortion Crisis Deepens
Washington blacklists Tehran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority; Nigerian shippers and vessel operators warned of serious compliance exposure
By Ighoyota Onaibre | Waterways News Correspondent
The United States Treasury Department has imposed formal sanctions on Iran’s newly established Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), the body Tehran created to manage — and effectively monetise — passage through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints. The action, announced Wednesday by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), marks a sharp escalation in Washington’s response to what it describes as an Iranian campaign of maritime extortion, and carries direct consequences for any shipping company, charterer, or vessel operator doing business through the strait.
According to Treasury, the PGSA has been coordinating directly with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the IRGC Navy to force vessels to follow Iranian-designated routes close to Iran’s coastline, while charging illegitimate fees for passage through the waterway.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the PGSA as “a new attempt by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to monetize its campaign of state-sponsored terror by extorting vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” and warned that the scheme “flagrantly violates international law and U.S. sanctions.”
“The Iranian military’s latest attempt to extort global maritime trade is proof that Economic Fury has left the regime desperate for cash,” Bessent said in a formal statement, referring to the Trump administration’s sweeping pressure campaign against Tehran’s economy.
How the Crisis Unfolded
The Strait of Hormuz crisis has been building since late February 2026. Following U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran that commenced on February 28, Iranian forces declared the strait “closed” beginning March 4, 2026, threatening and carrying out attacks on ships attempting to transit the waterway. (Congress.gov)
Tehran’s grip on the strait — the conduit for approximately one-fifth of the global oil supply — sent the world economy into turmoil, with Iraq and Kuwait among the Gulf producers forced to curtail output as storage capacity filled and export options collapsed.
A ceasefire between U.S. and Iranian forces came into effect on April 8, with diplomats pushing for a negotiated settlement, but Iran’s controls over the strait have continued to tighten. It was in this climate that Tehran launched the PGSA earlier this month, framing the new body as the legal authority for commercial navigation through the strait.
The PGSA subsequently defined its management supervision area as extending from the line connecting Kuh Mobarak in Iran and the south of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates on the eastern end of the strait, to the line connecting the end of Qeshm Island in Iran and Umm al-Qaiwain in the UAE on the western end — a sweeping claim of jurisdiction over a vast stretch of international waters.
Earlier this month the PGSA launched a public account on the social media platform X, describing itself as the legal authority for managing transit through the Strait of Hormuz and warning that unauthorised passage could be subject to enforcement action.
Sanctions Exposure: A Warning to the Entire Industry
The Treasury’s designation of the PGSA carries implications well beyond Tehran’s corridors of power. The sanctions statement extended the threat of blacklisting to anyone paying the transit fees, on the basis that they “may be providing support to and receiving services from” Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, and therefore “may be exposed to sanctions risk.”
Bessent added that Treasury “has deprived the Iranian regime of revenue for their weapons programs, terrorist proxies, and nuclear ambitions,” and that the U.S. has succeeded in disrupting “tens of billions of dollars’ worth of revenue from being accessible” to Tehran.
In practical terms, this means that any shipping company, port agent, flag state registry, marine insurer, or financial institution that facilitates payment to the PGSA — whether knowingly or not — now faces potential designation by OFAC. Maritime legal experts have described the warning as among the broadest secondary sanctions language applied to a shipping-related entity in recent years.
Global Shipping Bearing the Cost
The broader economic consequences of the Hormuz disruption have been severe. The head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, has described the shipping crisis in the Strait of Hormuz as “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.”
In addition to the ongoing disruption to supplies of crude oil and liquefied natural gas, the strait’s effective closure has affected other important commodities as well, with the net effect described as “an effective shutdown of what had been one of the world’s most critical commodity corridors.”
For commercial operators, shipping reroutes have extended end-consumer delivery times by anywhere from one to ten or more days, while raising costs by five to twenty percent through passed-through surcharges. The closure did more than disrupt shipping lanes; it redrew trade flows, revived the strategic importance of non-Gulf oil producers, and forced governments from Europe to Asia into an urgent search for alternative supply.
Nigeria Watch: Exposure, Opportunity, and Compliance Risk
For Nigeria’s maritime industry, the Hormuz crisis represents a convergence of risk and strategic opportunity that demands attention at every level — from vessel operators and cargo owners to regulators and port administrators.
On the exposure side, Nigerian shipping companies and charterers with vessels engaged in Persian Gulf trades, or with cargo interests transiting the strait, face a new layer of compliance complexity. Any payment made to the PGSA — even under duress from Iranian naval forces — now potentially triggers U.S. secondary sanctions. Given that a significant share of Nigeria’s shipping sector relies on U.S. dollar-denominated transactions and correspondent banking relationships with American financial institutions, the sanctions exposure is real and immediate.
Operators should seek urgent legal guidance from maritime compliance counsel and ensure that voyage instructions to vessels in the region explicitly prohibit any dealings with the PGSA.
On the market side, the crisis has elevated Nigeria’s strategic position as a major non-Gulf crude producer. Nigeria has been identified as one of the most notable countries looking to deepen energy partnerships with Gulf states — Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar — to secure alternative oil access, even as the strait disruption has revived the strategic importance of non-Gulf oil producers globally. With Gulf output constrained and global buyers scrambling for reliable supply, Nigerian crude — predominantly light and sweet grades from the Niger Delta and deep water fields — has attracted renewed demand from Asian and European buyers whose traditional Gulf supply chains have been disrupted. This is a pricing and positioning opportunity that Nigerian producers, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) should be moving to capture with urgency.
For NIMASA, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, the unfolding crisis is a reminder of how rapidly geopolitical developments in distant chokepoints can cascade into compliance and operational emergencies for Nigerian-flagged and Nigerian-operated vessels. The agency would do well to issue formal advisory guidance to the industry on the PGSA sanctions and their implications for Nigerian vessel operators, as peer maritime administrations in other jurisdictions are already doing.
Meanwhile, the NPA and port stakeholders at Lagos, Onne, Calabar, and Warri should monitor the downstream effects on freight rates and cargo availabilities as the global shipping market continues to absorb the shock of reduced Hormuz transits. Rerouted voyages, higher insurance premiums, and tightened vessel availability are already feeding into elevated freight costs on West Africa trades — costs that will ultimately be passed through to Nigerian importers and, by extension, consumers.
The situation at Hormuz is fluid and far from resolved. With Iran and Oman reportedly in negotiations over a new transit management framework, and the U.S.–Iran ceasefire holding only tenuously, the maritime industry should expect further developments — and further volatility — in the weeks ahead.
Waterways News will continue to monitor developments at the Strait of Hormuz and their implications for Nigeria’s maritime sector.
94 Days and Counting: The Strait of Hormuz Remains a Ghost Waterway
Global shipping crisis deepens as executives refuse to risk vessels despite Trump’s promises of imminent reopening
By Oghenewoke Osaweren | Waterways News Correspondent, Lagos
The world’s most consequential maritime chokepoint entered its 94th day of near-total paralysis on Monday, with shipping executives gathered in Athens warning that no meaningful resumption of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is likely until Washington and Tehran reach a durable, enforceable peace agreement.
The stark reality on the water tells its own story. According to research firm Kpler, only seven ships passed through the strait last Friday — five entering and two exiting — while just four additional vessels transited over the weekend. Under normal conditions, approximately 100 cargo-carrying vessels move through the waterway daily.
“Traffic still remains exceptionally depleted,” Matt Smith, Director of Commodity Research at Kpler, told CNN. “Barring a handful of tankers crossing each day, the strait remains essentially closed.”
The World’s Largest Oil Disruption
The International Energy Agency has described the halting of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz as “the largest oil supply disruption in the history” of the global market — bigger even than the oil shocks of the 1970s.
Since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran nine weeks ago, the strait — through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas is shipped during peacetime — has become the chokepoint of the global economy, stoking fears of a worldwide recession.
About 2,000 ships currently remain stranded in the Gulf, waiting to be allowed through. Over 22,500 mariners are trapped on more than 1,550 commercial vessels in and around the strait, according to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine.
Athens Summit: Confidence, Not Convoys, Is the Key
The world’s most powerful shipping executives are convening this week in Athens for the annual Posidonia International Shipping Exhibition. The Strait of Hormuz has dominated every conversation.
President Donald Trump has insisted the strait’s reopening is imminent, with administration officials pointing to the trickle of vessels getting through as evidence of progress. But industry leaders are not persuaded.
Gene Seroka, Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles — who spent half a decade working for American President Lines in the Middle East — told CNN that sporadic transits are not enough.
“The larger issue is whether carriers, insurers and vessel operators have enough confidence in the long-term security environment to resume regular service patterns,” Seroka said. It will take more than a “limited number of successful transits” to restore that confidence, he added.
Project Freedom’ Falls Short
A US military initiative last month — dubbed “Project Freedom” — sought to escort commercial vessels out of the strait under naval protection. War-risk insurance for tankers now prices at 8.0 times the pre-crisis level, with six P&I clubs withdrawing cover. The initiative proved short-lived.
Despite subsequent reports of renewed naval escorts, a spokesperson for US Central Command contradicted those claims outright.
“Though US forces are not escorting, we continue to communicate and coordinate with commercial ships seeking to freely and safely transit the Strait of Hormuz,” said Captain Tim Hawkins, spokesman for the command.
An oil industry source was blunt in their assessment: “Our general sense is that the threat to ships crossing the Strait is still significant, and we will not see a full resumption of traffic through the strait until there is a stronger guarantee of safe passage.”
Fresh Attack on Monday
Further underscoring the danger, a cargo vessel travelling in the northern Persian Gulf was struck by an unknown projectile on Monday, according to a British military-run maritime security organisation. The US has also said it will take six months to clear mines it believes Iran has laid across the strait. There have now been 39 vessel strikes in the region and 11 deaths recorded since the conflict began, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Container Giants Trapped; Food Supplies at Risk
The crisis has moved well beyond oil. Container ships that ordinarily deliver food, medicine, and consumer goods to Gulf states are also paralysed. Maersk, one of the world’s largest container shipping firms, has not had a ship depart since mid-May — with six of its vessels still stranded in the Gulf.
Jebel Ali Port in Dubai, the largest container port in the Middle East and a critical transshipment hub for the entire region, is experiencing severe congestion from vessels that have diverted following the closure.
Shipping industry sources are emphatic that when the strait does eventually reopen, no tolls or discriminatory transit fees must be imposed.
Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary General of the IMO, used his address to the Athens conference on Monday to hammer the point home: “As shipping comes under increasing pressure from geopolitical events, we must do all we can to work together to always put the safety of seafarers first. I call on the industry to stand with IMO in defending the principle of freedom of navigation, including the rejection of tolls and discriminatory transit measures.”
Shipping Rates Soar; Recovery Will Take Time
For tanker operators operating outside the Gulf, the crisis has been remarkably profitable. Heidmar, a Greek tanker firm, reported a more than 200% surge in revenue in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year — a direct consequence of what its CEO, Pankaj Khanna, described as “historically elevated” shipping rates.
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth acknowledged the long road to normalisation. “You need new ships to come back in, and ship owners have to be comfortable sending crews back after being trapped for months,” Wirth told Bloomberg on Friday. “Clearing out inventories to allow oil fields to restart and repair damage won’t happen overnight.”
The waterway’s future status will depend heavily on both the regional security situation and the outcome of ongoing diplomatic efforts between the United States and Iran.
For Nigeria and other African nations that depend on stable oil pricing and global freight networks, the message from Athens is sobering: the world’s most critical maritime corridor remains, for all practical purposes, closed — and no one is prepared to say when it will truly reopen.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Strait of Hormuz crisis began on March 2, 2026, following joint US-Israeli strikes on Tehran that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps subsequently declared the strait closed. Waterways.ng will continue to track developments as they affect Nigerian maritime trade and the global energy market.
NIWA Cracks Down on Life Jacket Violations, Vows Strict Enforcement in Warri
By Okeoghene Onoriobe | Waterways News Correspondent
The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has thrown its full weight behind the enforcement of its ‘No Life Jacket, No Sailing’ directive, warning that the policy will be applied without exception across Nigeria’s inland waterways.
The renewed commitment was announced during a one-day sensitisation and enlightenment programme hosted by NIWA’s Warri Area Office at NPA Waterside, Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, as part of the Authority’s 2026 waterway safety awareness calendar.
NIWA Area Manager, Rufus Oladimeji, who addressed boat operators, waterway users and key stakeholders at the event, said the campaign was designed to deepen safety consciousness and reinforce the Authority’s zero-tolerance stance on non-compliance.
“We are here today at NPA Waterside, Warri, with one clear message that will guide all our operations going forward: No Life Jacket, No Sailing,” Oladimeji told participants, stressing that the directive was non-negotiable under NIWA’s mandate to guarantee the safe movement of passengers and goods on inland waterways.
He urged all boat operators and their passengers to treat the wearing of life jackets as routine practice before any trip — not a voluntary gesture, but a fundamental safety obligation.
The Chairman of the NPA Boat Owners Association, Paul Wilikie, offered assurances on behalf of operators, pledging that association members would align with NIWA’s safety directives. He said boat owners recognised the importance of safety compliance not only in protecting lives but also in sustaining the long-term viability of water transportation in the region.
The sensitisation exercise brought together a broad cross-section of stakeholders, including representatives of the Nigeria Police Force, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), traditional rulers, community leaders, water transport unions and boat operators — reflecting the multi-agency approach NIWA is deploying to drive behavioural change on the waterways.
A particularly notable feature of the day’s event was the distribution of life jackets to boat operators on the spot — a practical step aimed at eliminating the excuse of unavailability and encouraging immediate compliance.
The Warri exercise is part of NIWA’s wider 2026 safety campaign, which seeks to reduce the frequency of preventable water transport accidents through stakeholder engagement, targeted public education and firmer enforcement of safety standards across the country’s inland waterway network.
Navy Commissions Three Warships as Tinubu Declares End of Piracy in Nigerian Waters
By Ighoyota Onaibre | Waterways News Correspondent | Lagos, June 2, 2026
President Bola Tinubu has declared Nigeria’s territorial waters free of piracy, crediting the Nigerian Navy with a sustained campaign that has transformed the security landscape across the country’s vast maritime domain — a development with far-reaching implications for waterway commerce, offshore operations and Nigeria’s broader blue economy.
Speaking on Monday at the 2026 International Fleet Review held at the Eko Atlantic Waterfront in Lagos, Tinubu commissioned three new naval vessels — NNS Oloibiri, NNS Mambila and NNS Gurara — as part of activities marking the Nigerian Navy’s 70th anniversary. The President served as Reviewing Officer at the event, which featured a parade of warships from Nigeria and allied nations.
According to a statement issued by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the newly commissioned platforms will reinforce naval operations targeting piracy, crude oil theft, illegal fishing and maritime smuggling across the Gulf of Guinea — a critical waterway corridor through which billions of dollars in trade and energy exports pass annually.
“Through the effective integration of surveillance systems, rapid response mechanisms and robust enforcement operations, you have successfully eradicated piracy in our waters and significantly curtailed crude oil theft and associated maritime crimes,” Tinubu told naval officers at the ceremony. “These achievements have enhanced the security of our littoral communities and contributed to increased oil production, thereby supporting national economic growth.”
For Nigeria’s waterways sector, the President’s remarks signal a more secure environment for vessel operators, ferry services, fishing communities and cargo movements along the country’s coastline and river networks. Security concerns in the Niger Delta and the broader Gulf of Guinea have long deterred investment and disrupted the livelihoods of millions who depend on water-based transport and commerce.
Tinubu described Nigeria’s maritime domain as a cornerstone of the national economy and a principal gateway for international trade, pledging continued government investment in modern naval platforms, surveillance technology, personnel welfare and capacity building.
“Nigeria’s maritime domain, endowed with immense natural wealth, remains a vital pillar of our national economy,” he said.
The President also acknowledged the Navy’s expanding counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations on inland and coastal waterways, praising the Special Boat Service for its performance in high-risk engagements and expressing confidence in the newly inducted Nigerian Navy Marines.
Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Idi Abbas, attributed the Navy’s operational gains to sustained government backing, strategic acquisitions and stronger inter-agency collaboration. He said improvements in surveillance infrastructure and modern platforms had significantly upgraded Nigeria’s maritime security architecture, and reaffirmed the loyalty of all naval personnel to the Commander-in-Chief.
The fleet review drew naval chiefs from Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, reflecting the growing regional consensus around collective maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea. Delegations from European countries, former Nigerian service chiefs and senior government officials were also in attendance.
Established on June 19, 1956 as a branch of the Royal Nigerian Navy, the service has since grown into a major maritime force responsible for securing Nigeria’s 853-kilometre coastline and an Exclusive Economic Zone of approximately 200 nautical miles — one of the largest maritime jurisdictions on the African continent
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