Hapag-Lloyd says Hormuz cargo fee would be 'fundamentally wrong'

FRANKFURT, July 14 (Reuters) - Germany's Hapag-Lloyd, the world's fifth-largest container shipping company, on Tuesday criticised U.S. plans to impose a 20% charge on cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz as "fundamentally wrong".

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he had reinstated a blockade on Iranian shipping in the Strait of Hormuz this month and proposed charging a 20% fee to help meet the cost of the U.S. safeguarding the vital waterway.

"It would be fundamentally wrong to levy fees for passage through international waters," Hapag said in a statement.

The German Shipowners' Association (VDR) said such a measure would be legally impermissible and would undermine the principle of free passage through international waters.

"Today it's the Strait of Hormuz, tomorrow the Strait of Malacca, and the day after tomorrow the next international strait. Where will this end?" VDR head Martin Kroeger told business magazine Wirtschaftswoche in an interview on Tuesday.

Civilian commercial shipping must not become a pawn in geopolitical conflicts, he added.

Control of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for oil and gas supplies, has become one of the central flashpoints of the U.S.-Iran conflict. Iran's effective blockade of the strait has pushed up energy prices and fuelled global inflation concerns.

Hapag said that while fees can be justified to fund major infrastructure such as the Panama Canal and Suez Canal, the same argument did not apply to the Strait of Hormuz, which carried about a fifth of global oil and gas supplies before the war.

The Hamburg-based company, which raised its earnings outlook on Monday on strong demand, told Reuters it could not reliably quantify the financial impact of Gulf tensions on its business.

"The recent escalation currently has no additional immediate impact on our vessel operations," said Hapag, which has adjusted its network so vessels don't pass through the key waterway.

(Reporting by Elke Ahlswede. Writing by Linda Pasquini and Miranda Murray. Editing by Matthias Williams and Mark Potter)