Trump Team Weighs Hormuz VIP Pass for 220 Tankers as 500 Ships Remain Stalled

3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jun 16

Just under 500 ships — including 220 oil tankers — remain parked outside the Strait of Hormuz as the Trump administration weighs paid, expedited passage, possibly with U.S. naval escorts, to restart traffic.
Shipowners have largely ignored Trump’s call to resume voyages because Iran’s earlier attacks turned the waterway into a chokepoint and the current peace talks are still seen as fragile.
One option under discussion would let vessels pay a fee for faster clearance and military escort; another would use the Defense Production Act to push U.S. insurers to cover Hormuz transits.
Oil has eased to about $75 a barrel as Iran and the U.S. negotiate, but prices remain above prewar levels after disruption to a route that carried 20% of global oil before the conflict.
Officials and former aides also frame the fee idea as leverage at the G7 to draw France, Britain and other European navies into Gulf patrols and deter any renewed Iranian blockade.