Strait of Hormuz is the waterway separates Iran and Oman, linking the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The Strait is 21 miles (33 km) wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just two miles (three km) wide in either direction. A third of the world’s liquefied natural gas and almost 20% of total global oil production passes through the strait, making it a highly important strategic location for international trade.

Body:

Background:

• In a recent incident, four commercial vessels were sabotaged near Fujairah (an emirate of the UAE), one of the world’s largest bunkering hubs lying just outside the Strait of Hormuz.
• The incident has come at a time of heightened tensions in the Gulf.
• The US has deployed an aircraft carrier, bomber planes and defence missiles to the region amid rising tensions with Iran, which has threatened to block oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz if the US succeeds in halting its energy exports.

Significance of Strait of Hormuz:

• 5 million barrels per day (bpd) of seaborne oil passed through the waterway in 2016. That was about 30 per cent of crude and other oil liquids traded by sea in 2016. About 17.2 million bpd of crude and condensates were estimated to have been shipped through the Strait in 2017 and about 17.4 million bpd in the first half of 2018.
• With global oil consumption standing at about 100 million bpd, that means almost a fifth passes through the Strait.
• Most crude exported from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, Kuwait and Iraq — all members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries — is shipped through the waterway.
• It is also the route used for nearly all the liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced by the world’s biggest LNG exporter, Qatar.

Current issues regarding the strait:

• During the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, the two sides sought to disrupt each other’s oil exports in what was known as the Tanker War.
• The US Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, is tasked with protecting the commercial ships in the area.
• The fleet ensures that the critical waterway remains open, provocative Iranian military manoeuvres are likely in the immediate offing as is a nuclear restart.
• Iran agreed to rein in its nuclear programme in return for an easing of sanctions under a 2015 deal with the United States and five other global powers.
• Washington pulled out of the pact in 2018. Western powers fear Iran wants to make nuclear weapons. Tehran denies this.
• The UAE and Saudi Arabia have sought to find other routes to bypass the Strait, including building more oil pipelines.

Possible measures:

• Infrastructure includes the construction of bypass pipelines avoiding key choke-points and strategic storage.
• Existing bypass pipelines include SUMED (which avoids the Suez Canal); the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline in the UAE (bypassing Hormuz); and the Saudi Petroline, which runs to the Red Sea, hence offering an alternative to the Gulf and Hormuz.
• Strategic storage can be held by oil exporters, by importers, or a combination.
• Institutional approaches include mechanisms to deal with disruptions, such as cooperative sharing arrangements.
• Organizations such as the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Energy Forum (IEF), Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Gulf Cooperation Council, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) could all have roles in alleviating the concerns.
• Governments do have a role in protecting the most vulnerable consumers and ensuring sufficient energy for critical services

Conclusion:

The high seas are constituent element of the global commons which belongs to the entire world. Blocking the freedom of navigation goes against the rules based order of the UNCLOS and other inter-governmental agreements. The bilateral tensions should not affect the global trade and in turn the other countries. Issues must be sorted out by discussions between the concerned parties and peaceful solutions are the need of the hour.