US, Dutch commanders differ on Strait of Hormuz access

US and Dutch naval commanders gave different views on access through the Strait of Hormuz at the IUMI conference in Rotterdam on Monday, as the marine insurance market keeps debating whether vessels left in the Gulf qualify as blocked and trapped. At the conference’s war challenges workshop on September 21, Royal Dutch Navy fleet commander Rear Admiral George Pastoor said shipping through the strait was “completely stopped”, while acknowledging there were “a few transits nowadays”. US Rear Admiral Matt Kawas, commander of Task Force Protect, disputed that account. “I’d like to amplify something that he has said though about the Strait of Hormuz being closed.

While that may have been true to a degree at one point, I can see every night that the Strait of Hormuz is not closed,” Kawas said. Kawas said US forces had coordinated more than 2,000 Hormuz transits and averaged more than 400 monthly. He also said three viable strait routes remain cleared of mines. DWF’s Evans said owners must prove blocked-and-trapped claims ship by ship.

were averaging more than 400 a month. He said there were three viable routes through the strait, all cleared of mines, and that the Omani coastal route was preferred because it gave defending forces more time and space to intercept airborne threats. “The Strait remains open for lawful commercial transit by day or night,” he said. Kawas also said Iran continued to launch attacks daily and urged insurers to reflect the benefits of naval coordination in underwriting models, policy conditions and guidance to insured vessels.

The conflicting accounts come amid an unresolved market debate over whether continued transits show vessels can leave the Gulf, or whether individual ships remain restrained even where a route exists. Speaking at the same workshop, DWF partner Jonathan Evans said many vessels remained stuck and owners would seek to argue they were blocked and trapped as relevant 6- or 12-month periods elapsed. ” he said. Evans said each owner would He said the burden was on each side to substantiate its own position and noted that securing military escorts remained a practical hurdle.

The Insurer reported in June that DNK was treating March 4 as the start date for possible blocking and trapping exposures affecting some vessels unable to leave the Gulf, subject to ship-by-ship assessment. The broader market is still split on the significance of ongoing vessel movements, captains’ safety assessments and whether individual ships have had a realistic chance to depart.