A new constraint is emerging on Hormuz transits, and it comes from insurers rather than navies.

Infomarine reports that underwriters at the Lloyd's Market Association have drawn up an additional, optional clause for policies covering passages through the strait. It allows the insurer to cancel the policy if it emerges that the shipowner paid a toll to Iran [1]. An LMA spokesperson told Insurance Business that the clause sets out "a clear contractual position for insurers and insureds" on whether such payments are acceptable; if discovered, the ship's cover would be cancelled [1].

The compliance logic is straightforward. The IRGC Navy oversees Iran's side of the strait and is a US-designated foreign terrorist organisation, while the administrative transactions for passage run through Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority — not part of the IRGC, but still a division of the Iranian government. Infomarine notes Iran is not currently charging for transits, but its leaders have shown interest in turning the waterway into a long-term revenue stream, potentially framed as a "fee" for services rather than a toll, since tolling in an international strait is questionably legal. Payments could be made in bitcoin or yuan to stay discreet, but would ultimately reach the Iranian banking system and possibly the IRGC, making any payment a US sanctions violation [1].

The practical effect, as Infomarine frames it, is that the clause could deter neutral shipowners from using the route through Iranian waters — the section where Iran is not attacking shipping [1].

Costs are moving in the same direction. Citing Reuters, Infomarine says war risk premiums for Gulf coverage stood at 3% of hull value in early July, and that after more recent attacks some sources expect quotes of 5% or more — levels that can price some commodity trades out of the market [1].

Caveats: the clause is described as optional and newly drafted, not yet reported as standard market practice, and no insurer or shipowner is named as having adopted it.