Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority published the first precise geographic definition of the zone it claims to administer across the Strait of Hormuz on May 20, releasing through its newly public X account a chart that labels the waterway and its approaches a management supervision area. The eastern boundary runs from Kuh-e Mubarak on the Iranian coast to a point south of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates; the western line stretches from the end of Qeshm Island across to Umm al-Qaiwain.
The map completes a transformation that began with ad hoc interceptions and improvised demands in the opening weeks of the 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis. What started as extortion by patrol boat now has a jurisdiction chart, a permit bureaucracy and an official social media presence. For owners and charterers, the message is blunt: transit through the world's most important oil chokepoint is being repackaged as a licensed service, on Tehran's terms.
A toll office with a public face
The authority, created on May 5, stepped into the open on May 18 when it launched an official account on X promising real-time updates on strait operations. Industry reports describe a body that has been assembling the machinery of a working agency since its creation, not merely a name on a press statement.
In the Name of God. The official X account of the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (#PGSA) is now live. Follow us for real-time updates on the #Hormuz_Strait operations...
@PGSA_IRAN May 18, 2026
Institutions that intend to disappear rarely print maps or open press channels. The account launch reads as a statement of permanence, aimed at an industry that had been treating the toll regime as a temporary aberration.
The map and the permit
The May 20 chart places a broad sweep of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman under armed forces oversight and states that transit requires coordination with, and a permit from, a body styled the Persian Gulf Waterway Management. The same day, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed that 26 commercial vessels had passed through the strait within 24 hours in coordination with Iran, a figure reported by Al Jazeera.
The permit process is intrusive by design. Applications must disclose ownership, insurance, crew, cargo, and past port calls and routing. Vessels with Israeli ties are barred outright, and US-linked ships face heavy restrictions. The IRGC vets an affiliation document through intermediaries, a process that takes about a week and can include physical inspection by speedboat teams. Industry reports have traced the tanker Agios Fanourios I through checkpoints at Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, Larak and Hormuz Island.
What passage now costs
European sources cited in industry reports say vessels are paying upwards of $150,000 for safe passage, with top-end tolls reaching $2m, settled in yuan or Bitcoin. Two senior Iranian officials have confirmed that security and navigation fees exist, declined to give figures, and said not all countries are charged.
The carve-outs are political. Iraq arranged passage for its SOMO crude liftings at prime-ministerial level. India works through its embassy in Tehran, which had cleared 13 Indian-flagged ships by May 14. Russian, Chinese and Pakistani tonnage enjoys preference. "Some will get through because of political alliances, others will have to pay," said Danny Citrinowicz of the INSS in remarks carried by industry media.
The squeeze behind the fee schedule remains severe. Fewer than 60 vessels transited between April 18 and May 6, against 120 to 140 crossings a day before the conflict, and roughly 1,500 vessels with some 22,500 seafarers aboard were caught in the region by early May, according to industry reports. Maritime analytics firm Windward has described the strait as a holding queue, and the label fits: tonnage is not flowing, it is waiting on paperwork.
The other side of the channel
Washington's enforcement campaign ran in parallel. On May 20, US Marines boarded the Iranian-flagged tanker Celestial Sea in the Gulf of Oman, the latest action in a blockade that has tightened since the first Project Freedom convoy fought through the strait. Iran has already demonstrated what defiance of its rules can cost with the sinking of the Haji Ali.
Allied weight is edging closer. HMS Dragon passed through the Suez Canal on May 19 toward a potential Hormuz mission, and NATO is weighing an operation of its own. Tehran, meanwhile, added a commercial layer to the architecture on May 18 with the launch of Hormuz Safe, an insurance product that sells cover against a risk Iran itself controls.
What to watch
The oversight zone collides head-on with the transit passage regime of UNCLOS, and if the claim stands unanswered it becomes a template for chokepoint monetization that other littoral states will study closely. The price discovery of recent weeks, $150,000 at the low end and $2m at the top, also hands Washington's lawyers a defined target; financial measures aimed at the payment chain, rather than at the patrol boats, would be the logical next step. Watch whether the two-tier fleet hardens into a durable divide between favored and excluded flags, whether permits begin trading through intermediaries at a markup, and whether any Gulf capital attempts to mediate between the fee schedule and the blockade.
As Editor in Chief of The Maritime, I lead content development, interviews, and digital storytelling across our multimedia maritime platform. With over 10 years of experience in the maritime industry, I create and publish in-depth stories and video features that highlight key players, emerging trends, and operational realities across global shipping. Before launching The Maritime, I worked as a Vessel Operator at Imza Marine A.S., gaining hands-on commercial shipping and voyage operations experience. I also served as Marketing Communications Specialist at Gimas Ship Supply & Services, where I managed corporate communication, digital strategy, and industry outreach for shipowners and maritime clients. I hold a Master’s degree in Maritime Transportation Management from Istanbul Technical University and a Master’s degree in Publishing from Marmara University. My work is driven by the belief that the maritime world deserves strong, informed, and accessible media representation. I am committed to sharing the stories of maritime professionals and contributing to the sector’s visibility, knowledge exchange, and future development.
