Iran's Hormuz toll plan drives West African shipping boom and sparks rise in Somali piracy

Iran announced a new framework to regulate maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, designating specific routes for commercial vessels and planning to collect tolls from ships and even from subsea internet‑cable operators such as Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon. Access will be denied to vessels linked to the United States’ “Project Freedom” and the regime has floated the idea of accepting cryptocurrency payments.

The move deepens the blockade of the strait, prompting shippers to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope. The detour adds roughly 6,500 km to voyages – for example a Singapore‑to‑Spain container ship now travels about 19,800 km instead of 13,300 km – and raises costs by an estimated US$1 million per vessel for fuel, insurance and operations.

To service the longer route, global maritime firms are expanding along West Africa. Minerva Bunkering announced new bases in Mauritania’s ports of Nouadhibou and Nouakchott; Vitol operates out of Dakar, Senegal; Monjasa has positioned fleets in Namibia and Togo; Damen signed a 20‑year deal to modernise the Dakar shipyard; MSC and Hapag‑Lloyd are opening offices in Senegal and Benin respectively.

The increased traffic through the Somali Basin has revived piracy off Somalia’s coast. In recent weeks at least three vessels – two oil tankers and a cargo/cement carrier – have been hijacked, with pirates reportedly forging links with Yemen’s Houthi forces. The EU’s Operation Atalanta has intervened, freeing an Iranian‑flagged vessel and urging heightened vigilance. The resurgence underscores how the Hormuz disruption is reshaping global shipping security and economics.