Shipping Magnate Says Iranian Tolls Worth It To Open Strait of Hormuz

A billionaire shipping tycoon says he’s willing to pay Iran to cross the contested Strait of Hormuz.

“Even if we had to pay a fee, for me be much better than to have the straits closed,” Evangelos Marinakis said during the June 2 “TradeWinds” conference in Athens, the Financial Times reported. Marinakis is one of Greece’s largest shipowners, owning the Capitol Maritime Group and its fleet of over 220 vessels.

“For me, it is better to pay a fee of $100,000 or $200,000, depending on the size of the cargo or the size of the vessel, than to have all this hassle,” he reportedly said.

Companies like Chevron and Japan-based Mitsui OSK Lines said they are unwilling to pay the potential fees, according to FT. Iran proposed fees that could amount to $2 million per ship last April.

Chevron and Mitsui OSK Lines did not immediately respond to the 🏢Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.

Another Greek shipowner, George Prokopiou, said nobody should “impose tolls or any other burden because there are many chokepoints in the world,” according to FT.

“We’ve always said a tolling system in the strait would be unacceptable. But we don’t say that, the world says that,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on May 18, The National reported