International Maritime Organization Chief Arsenio Dominguez Talks Hormuz

**SPEAKER_1** (0:02)
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**SPEAKER_2** (0:07)
Now President Trump has backed away from that plan to impose a 20% charge on cargo shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, but the US has reinstated its blockade of Iranian ships. Navigation through the Strait remains dangerous and complicated. Joining us now to discuss Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization. Arsenio Dominguez, welcome to Bloomberg Radio.
The US policy on the Strait of Hormuz has flip-flopped. Why do you think the US president dropped those plans for a 20% toll?

**Arsenio Dominguez** (0:36)
It was very clear, particularly last week, the Council of the International Maritime Organization, where all the member states, 176 of them, agreed on a resolution to uphold the freedom of navigations on strait for international transit. And this is something that I have been mentioning from the beginning since Iran first started to raise issues regarding to tolls or fees. There is no international law basis for any of these mechanisms to be put in place. And for us at IMO, we first focus on, of course, the safety of the seafarers. And then afterwards, just maintain and uphold all the principles that allow us to make shipping trade safe around the world.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:22)
But President Trump has floated the idea of US collected transit fees since April. Trump wants reimbursement for US naval operations in the strait. He may have reversed course for now.
What more can the IMO do about this when it is the US that is deciding?

**Arsenio Dominguez** (1:44)
My call has always been very direct to all the parties or the organization or the countries as well as the ship owners and ship operators. The more that we all uphold the principles and we don't follow on this kind of announcements, the more that international law will prevail. Now, that's one thing that is also important to highlight in this, and there's a conflict ongoing, and there's a lot of cross messaging that actually takes place. For me, what matters is that we base all our decisions and all the practices in accordance to what has been happening at IMO for nearly 80 years, the rule of law that continues to allow trade to move over 80 percent of goods for everyone around the world. So, it is the conflict as well that is taking these conversations into that level.
But I will maintain the message of upholding international law for countries to do the same thing, and for companies at this stage, particularly with the volatility, not to take risk to transit through the Strait of Hormuz, and that would include not making any payments that may be raised.

**SPEAKER_2** (2:53)
Okay. I mean, on that point of the ships that are making the journey through, and some are, as we've been tracking here at Bloomberg, are they taking unnecessary risks in your view?

**Arsenio Dominguez** (3:05)
From the moment a couple of weeks ago that we have to pause the evacuation framework in order to relieve the nearly 11,000 seafarers we had back at the time. We still have 6,000 seafarers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz since the beginning of the conflict.
I have reiterated the call for vessels, ship owners, ship operators and the flag states not to take the risk. Because even with naval escorting, it doesn't guarantee 100% that a ship cannot be hit. The important thing right now is to resume the talks, to resume the assistance that we can actually provide also to the seafarers that remain trapped in the region, de-escalate, and then, of course, we can move back step by step to transit through the Strait of Hormuz as we knew it before the conflict began.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:57)
What more can you tell us about how to try to help and alleviate those sailors who are actually trapped there? As you say, the 6,000 sailors who are trapped there, what more can be done?

**Arsenio Dominguez** (4:11)
The first thing that they need right now is continuous assistance when it comes to supplies, medical support whenever needed, as well as the goods that are required for a vessel to continue to be seaworthy in the region. And whenever possible, crew changes can take place. I won't criticize any seafarer that wouldn't want to move into working on a conflict environment, but the situation have de-escalated in that respect. And this possibility is for crew changes to take place in order that at least for those seafarers that have been there for four months or longer to be able to resume their lives back at home or at least get in touch with the close ones. The next step for us is to maintain the conversations with all the countries in the regions using as well the other UN agencies that can hold and support those talks that will take us to the next steps. And then of course we can start step by step resuming transit in the Strait of Hormuz.