00:07My guest today on 12 Minutes with is Arsenio Dominguez. He is the Secretary General of the
00:13International Maritime Organization, which is the UN agency responsible for shipping safety
00:20and security. Sir, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. I'd like to start obviously with
00:25the situation in the Strait of Hormuz. We've heard now from President Trump saying that the US has,
00:31according to him, effectively blockaded maritime access to Iranian ports. Tehran says this is a
00:38piracy. How would you describe it? Right now, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz continues to be
00:44critical. In particular, I like the 20,000 safe matters, innocent people that are still trapped
00:51in the Persian Gulf, around 2,000 vessels that are not able to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
00:57And of course, this also has an impact on the mental health, the fatigue, and the fact that
01:03they need supplies for them to be safely on board from food, water, and the fuels for the ships.
01:11Now, when it comes to the blockade, there's no international law agreement that allows any
01:17country to actually prohibit the freedom of navigation on straits used for international
01:26navigation. So in this case, we here at IMO continues to uphold that principle and to go
01:32for de-escalation of the ships to resume operations through the Strait of Hormuz, as we were used to
01:39before the conflict. So you say that this is against international rules. The President Trump
01:45says, however, that this could help restore the flow of shipping. Can it do so? Or is it simply
01:52a worsening and already dire situation? The reality is that from the moment that this conflict started,
01:59we saw that the 130 ships that normally would transit Strait of Hormuz came down to zero,
02:07or almost just a handful of them. And what happened afterwards was that the Islamic Republic of Iran
02:14Iran introduced a different corridor to the one that has been in operations and adopted by IMO
02:20back in 1968, which of course is not recognized by this organization.
02:26And this is the situation that we have right now, that because there's no confirmation that the
02:33corridor that was established by IMO is safe to transit right now, we also don't have any information
02:40of the safety and security of the other corridor that has been introduced by Iran. The reality is
02:45that what we need for this to de-escalate and from all parties to respect the measures that have been
02:51adopted by IMO and the freedom of navigation.
02:54But if both sides are flouting these rules, what can you do or what can the international community do
03:02to get back to the pre-conflict status quo? What needs to happen now? Is there some kind of mechanism
03:08that could be put in place to restore the freedom of navigation in the Strait?
03:12The first answer is simple, which is basically to de-escalate and to bring this conflict to an end.
03:18In parallel, in following the decision of the IMO Council a couple of weeks ago, we already have in place
03:26an evacuation framework that would allow us, as soon as it is free for the ships to transit the Strait
03:32of Hormuz,
03:33to re-initiate all these mechanisms, all these transit. We have since 1968 a traffic separation scheme
03:41that is coordinated between Oman and Iran, and this is established in accordance with national law,
03:47is ready to resume operations. We are working with both countries, but we need security in the region
03:55for the ships, and particularly the crew, not to be at risk when they resume operations.
04:00You say you're working with both countries. Can I ask you what your contacts with both Washington and Tehran are
04:07like?
04:07Are you getting any sort of receptive or indications that they understand the gravity of the situation
04:14and are willing to de-escalate?
04:15This is a dialogue, and of course, I keep all the conversations within the remit of IMO.
04:21I have shared with them all the plans that we have developed in an operational and technical manner
04:28for as soon as the conflict de-escalates, for us to start resuming the transit in accordance to the mechanisms
04:35adopted by IMO.
04:36No, the countries are a party to the organisation, and they know what the rules of the game are in
04:42accordance to our mechanisms.
04:44I also engage with all the countries in the region and countries beyond the region, because let's face it,
04:50it's not just one or two countries that are being affected by these countries, by this conflict.
04:55It's every single country around the world that actually is dealing with negative impacts.
05:00And on that, there is a global coalition meeting tomorrow, led by Paris and London.
05:05They seem to be saying that they're willing to sort of intervene to help on restoring the freedom of navigation
05:10after the conflict has ended.
05:14Do you welcome those efforts? What do you expect from this coalition?
05:19Absolutely. This is multilateralism in the way that we need it.
05:23It's bringing countries together to, again, reiterate the principles of the freedom of navigation,
05:29that shipping should not be used as collateral in these geopolitical instances,
05:34and that we need to secure our seafarers in particular.
05:38I'm very grateful to the leadership of the countries of France and the United Kingdom,
05:43and I am engaging with them because we are providing the expertise from all the work
05:49that the organization has put in place, and of course, they will be able to provide that assistance
05:54to guarantee that the straits is safe for the ships to transit as soon as the conflict is over.
06:00You say that shipping should not be used as collateral in geopolitical conflicts,
06:05but if I may, sir, it is at the moment.
06:08We're seeing Trump not only threatening freedom of navigation in the straits of Hormut,
06:13Iran doing the same, but the US president has also made open threats on freedom of navigation
06:19through the Panama Canal, for example, and other critical waterways.
06:24How difficult is it for you as an organization to defend these rules in this context?
06:30I work very closely with all the member states of IMO,
06:33and of course, here, the message for the organization would not change.
06:38We uphold the international rule of law, in particular, the string of navigations.
06:42Now, this is not the first time.
06:44Regrettably, in recent years, since the conflict in the Black Sea and the Red Sea,
06:49now in the Strait of Hormut, shipping continues to be used as leverage for this geopolitical conflict.
06:55But it is important for everyone in the planet to recognize that the moment the shipping gets affected,
07:02that's going to have a negative impact on everybody else, on the way that we live our daily lives,
07:09because shipping, it is necessary for all of us to provide and distribute in large quantities the goods,
07:19the cargoes that are essential for our daily living.
07:21Is there a risk also that in this war, we know that there's a fragile ceasefire in place right now,
07:28but is there a risk that it can now shift to more of an economic war of blockades that really
07:35plays out in the Strait
07:36and shift into more of a kind of economic maritime war?
07:40Is that something you fear?
07:41What I look for is that in the Rights Forum, the root causes of this conflict can be addressed.
07:48But it's beyond IMO.
07:50From our part, we will continue to uphold all the principles in accordance to international law.
07:55But beyond that, make sure that our technical rules and operational aspects of shipping
08:01continue to demonstrate that we can actually be as resilient as it's always been,
08:08continue to provide, adapt to this conflict,
08:10and that the more that we actually get engaged and dragged into,
08:15the more that some communities, innocent communities, will be affected.
08:19I want to ask you a little bit about the economic repercussions.
08:21You mentioned earlier that only a handful of vessels have been able to pass
08:26compared to the pre-conflict situation.
08:28Can you tell us a little bit about the scenario today
08:31and also about how, if this persists, continues,
08:37what will be the repercussions on the economy?
08:41We already see an increase in global prices, particularly when it comes to oil.
08:47Now, the longer that this continues,
08:49the more that we will feel the negative impacts in the global economy.
08:53Because shipping is resilient, and we can find different routes to operate in that case.
09:00But what we will not be able to do is to provide the 20% of the fuel oil that
09:06emanates from this region,
09:0819% of natural liquefied gas,
09:1313% of fertilizers and chemicals required for agriculture,
09:189% of automobiles that also are actually coming from this part of the world.
09:25That is an impact that we will not be able to address
09:28because you need shipping to actually carry those cargoes in bulk.
09:33And this is why the sooner that this conflict comes to an end,
09:38the quicker that step-by-step shipping will resume normal operations
09:43and the economy will start easing on all this negative pressure.
09:47We also know, and to close, I want to ask you about
09:50how this has also resulted in a soaring freight rate,
09:56also soaring insurance premiums.
09:59Does this risk then having a knock-on effect
10:02that will also affect consumers in terms of pricing?
10:05Definitely.
10:06The moment that you affect freight in the operations on ships,
10:11the moment that that becomes more expensive,
10:13but it's more restrictive because not all the goods can actually be provided,
10:18then there's a knock-off effect into the global economy.
10:21And that will be passed down to consumers.
10:23And in terms then of the shipping companies,
10:25is this a golden opportunity for them?
10:27Will they end up profiting?
10:28Not necessarily.
10:30And I don't think that it's appropriate to actually look at it in that perspective
10:33because this is not something that the shipping companies are calling for.
10:36They're also being affected because, of course,
10:38there's an increase on the operational costs of the ships.
10:43Fuel goes up.
10:45That is the main cost of the operations of the ships.
10:48Immediately, everything else will go up.
10:51How hopeful are you to close that we can go back
10:54to the pre-conflict status quo, as I mentioned earlier?
10:57Is that possible?
10:58Or do you think that this conflict has already disrupted that status quo
11:03and that a return will not be possible?
11:06I'm optimistic, of course, that we're actually going to resume
11:10and go back to the days where we were before the conflict.
11:14And I continue to call on the relevant parties to, of course,
11:19bring those dialogues that will address the root causes.
11:22The reason why I am optimistic is because we are all acknowledging
11:27and recognizing and living through the negative impacts from this conflict.
11:31And this is one of the key messages that we all need to work together
11:35to demonstrate that the moment that these kind of situations takes place,
11:41like shipping be used as collateral,
11:43we're all going to have the negative effects.
11:45So it is our voices that are also going to make us be positive
11:48and allow that these kind of situations don't repeat again.
11:52Okay, Secretary General, thank you so much for your time.
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