Because Chinese ships could probably pass the toll booth for free being that they are, well, Chinese I'm guessing this was done to set a precedent for other shipping lines/countries.
As part of their excuse for the right to extract tolls, the Iranians are pointing to Egypt and the Suez Canal and Panama and its namesake canal. This is of course geographically illiterate as the canals go through those countries whereas the Strait of Hormuz is next to Iran and thus an international waterway.
From Lloyd's List Intelligence, March 23:
- Chinese-owned feeder containership pays Iran for Hormuz transit
- Passage was arranged through a Chinese maritime services intermediary
- Larger Chinese shipowners remain cautious, with Cosco’s vessels still anchored in the Middle East Gulf
Iran’s pay-to-pass corridor gains traction as first confirmed Chinese vessel makes transit
A CHINESE-OWNED feeder containership has become the first vessel with confirmed mainland Chinese ownership to pay Iran for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, transiting via a so-called “safe” shipping corridor near Tehran’s Larak Island during the weekend.
According to ship databases, the registered owner of Panama-flagged Newvoyager (IMO: 1088396) is Bengbu Shengda Transportation, based in China’s Anhui province, while shipmanagement is handled by Shanghai-based United Pioneer Shipping.
Its beneficial owner remains unclear, however.
The transit was brokered by a Chinese maritime services company acting as an intermediary, which also handled the payment to Iranian authorities, Lloyd’s List understands. The exact amount and method of payment could not be confirmed.
This makes Newvoyager another case in which a shipping firm paying Iran for passage through the corridor since it was established — following a tanker operator previously reported by Lloyd’s List — and the first involving a ship definitively linked to Chinese ownership.
More than 20 vessels have so far been tracked using the Larak Island corridor to navigate the Strait of Hormuz. The majority have been Greek-owned, though Indian, Pakistani, Syrian and Iran’s own vessels have also been identified among them....
....MUCH MORE
Previously:
March 20 - "Iran floats Hormuz transit tolls as Persian Gulf states warn of military response"
