The US-Israeli war with Iran, which began on Feb. 28, has killed thousands of people, destabilized the Middle East and rocked global energy markets by effectively closing the strait.
WHAT IS THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ?
Lying between Oman and Iran and linking the Gulf north of it with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond, the strait is 33km wide at its narrowest point, with a shipping lane just 3km wide in either direction.
Photo: AP 照片：美聯社
Perhaps the world’s most important energy shipping channel, the waterway is about 167km long.
Following through on an old threat, Tehran effectively closed the strait after US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on Feb. 28. During the standoff over the strait, Iran threatened to charge fees on ships passing through. No such unilateral move to demand fees to traverse a strait has been made in modern history, shipping industry officials said, while US President Donald Trump has said free traffic of oil through the strait must be part of any peace deal.
WHY IT MATTERS FOR OIL, GAS, JET FUEL AND FERTILISERS
Photo: EPA 照片：歐新社
About a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies normally pass through the strait, which is the only sea exit for the fuels from key exporting countries.
OPEC members Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq export most of their crude via the waterway.
Qatar, among the world’s biggest LNG exporters, sends almost all of its LNG through the strait, while analytics firm Kpler estimates about 33 percent of the world’s fertilizers, including sulphur and ammonia, pass via the strait.
Traffic has dropped by 97 percent since the US-Israeli war against Iran began on Feb. 28, UN data shows.
But analysts had always regarded the closure of the strait as a measure of last resort because of the long-term strategic changes it might prompt among Iran’s enemies, and the potential for retaliation against its own energy sector.
WHY IS THE STRAIT SO HARD TO SECURE?
The shipping lanes are narrow and ships must make a turn opposite Iranian islands and a mountainous coast that provides cover for Iranian forces, shipping broker SSY Global said.
Although Iran’s navy has largely been destroyed, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has options including fast attack craft, mini submarines, mines and even jetskis packed with explosives, said Tom Sharpe, a retired Royal Navy commander.
And Tehran has the capacity to produce around 10,000 drones a month, according to the Centre for Information Resilience.
ARE THERE ANY ALTERNATIVES TO THE STRAIT?
The UAE and Saudi Arabia have sought to find ways to bypass the strait by building more oil pipelines.
But those are not currently operational and an attack on an east-west Saudi pipeline by Houthi militia in 2019 showed those alternatives were also vulnerable.
Qatar’s foreign ministry said all countries in the region have the right to use the strait freely and any talks on future financial mechanisms should wait until after it is reopened. While the strait has been closed, shipping firms have had to find alternative routes for some basic goods. For example, ensuring a shipment of timber reached Qatar required rerouting overland through the UAE.
WHAT DOES INTERNATIONAL LAW SAY?
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) governing international sea law, which was adopted in 1982 and has been in force since 1994, says states bordering straits cannot demand payment simply for permission to pass through.
However, they can impose limited fees on ships for services such as piloting, tugging or port services, though these may not be levied more heavily on vessels from particular countries.
Article 38 of UNCLOS provides vessels a right of unimpeded “transit passage” through more than 100 straits worldwide, including the Strait of Hormuz.
Around 170 countries and the EU have ratified UNCLOS. But Iran and the US have not.
This raises the question of whether the treaty’s rules affording freedom of maritime navigation have become part of customary international law, or bind only ratifying countries.
(Reuters)
美國與以色列對伊朗的戰爭自2月28日爆發以來，已造成數千人死亡，重創中東局勢，並因實質封鎖荷姆茲海峽（Strait of Hormuz），衝擊全球能源市場。
關於荷姆茲海峽
荷姆茲海峽位於阿曼與伊朗之間，北連波斯灣，南接阿曼灣與更外側的阿拉伯海。其最狹窄處僅33公里，雙向航道各只有約3公里寬。
這條水道長約167公里，被視為全球最重要的能源運輸通道之一。
德黑蘭曾揚言要封鎖荷姆茲海峽，在美以聯軍於2月28日對伊朗發動攻擊後，伊朗將口頭威脅付諸行動。在僵局中，伊朗還揚言向通行船隻徵收費用。航運業人士指出，現代史上從未有國家單方面要求船舶支付通行費才能穿越國際海峽。美國總統川普則表示，任何和平協議都必須保障運送石油的船隻能夠自由通行荷姆茲海峽。
石油、天然氣、航空燃油與肥料運輸的關鍵地位
全球約五分之一的石油與液化天然氣（LNG）供應，平時都經由荷姆茲海峽運輸。對許多主要石油出口國而言，這是能源出口唯一的海上通道
石油輸出國組織（OPEC）成員國如沙烏地阿拉伯、伊朗、阿拉伯聯合大公國、科威特與伊拉克，其原油的出口多是經由荷姆茲海峽。
卡達為全球最大液化天然氣出口國之一，幾乎全部經由荷姆茲海峽運出。數據分析公司 Kpler 估計，全球約33%的肥料（包括硫磺與氨）也仰賴此航道運輸。
聯合國資料顯示，自2月28日戰爭爆發後，荷姆茲海峽的船運流量已暴跌97%。
然而，分析人士長期認為，封鎖荷姆茲海峽是伊朗的最後手段，因為這可能促使其對手進行長期戰略調整，也可能讓伊朗自身的能源產業遭到報復。
荷姆茲海峽的維安為何如此困難？
航運經紀公司 SSY Global 表示，荷姆茲海峽航道狹窄，船舶需在伊朗島嶼及山區海岸線附近轉向，而這些地形為伊朗軍方提供天然掩護。
雖然伊朗海軍主力已大幅受損，但英國皇家海軍退役指揮官湯姆．夏普指出，伊朗革命衛隊仍可使用快艇、小型潛艦、水雷，甚至裝載炸藥的水上摩托車進行攻擊。
此外，資訊韌性中心（Centre for Information Resilience）指出，德黑蘭仍有每月生產約1萬架無人機的能力。
是否有替代路線？
阿拉伯聯合大公國與沙烏地阿拉伯近年積極興建更多輸油管線，希望繞過荷姆茲海峽。
但這些替代設施目前尚未完全運作，而2019年沙烏地東西向管線曾遭葉門胡塞武裝組織（Houthi）攻擊，顯示替代方案也同樣脆弱。
卡達外交部表示，區域內所有國家都有權自由使用荷姆茲海峽，未來若要討論新的財務機制，應等海峽重新開放後再談。海峽封鎖期間，航運公司被迫為部分民生物資尋找替代路線。例如，一批運往卡達的木材便需改由阿聯陸路轉運。
國際法之規定
規範國際海洋法的《聯合國海洋法公約》（UNCLOS）於1982年通過、1994年生效。公約規定，海峽沿岸國不得純粹因為允許船舶通行而對其收費。
不過，沿岸國可就引水、拖船、港口服務等項目收取有限費用，但不得對特定國家的船舶課以更高費率。
《海洋法公約》第38條賦予全球一百多處海峽（包括荷姆茲海峽）船舶不受阻礙的「過境通行權」。
目前約170個國家及歐盟已批准該公約，但伊朗與美國並未批准。
這也引發一項法律爭議：保障海上自由航行的規則，究竟已成為國際習慣法，還是僅對批准國具有拘束力?？
（台北時報林俐凱編譯）
