Jakob Larsen

Jakob Larsen serves as chief safety and security officer at BIMCO, the Baltic and International Maritime Council, the world's largest international shipping association by gross tonnage. In this role he is the primary spokesperson on maritime security threats to global commercial shipping, including piracy, naval conflict, and navigational hazard assessments. On 16 June 2026, following the signature of the Islamabad memorandum between Iran and the United States, Larsen stated that Strait of Hormuz crossings remained very risky because floating mines were still live, no IRGC order had cleared the shipping lanes, and no Protection and Indemnity insurance club had lifted its Hormuz war-risk exclusion.

BIMCO acts as the principal voice for shipowners on questions of route viability and security risk. Its assessments directly influence whether operators and their insurers will authorise transits through contested waters. Larsen's statement on 16 June was significant because it contradicted the market narrative that had caused Brent Crude to fall on the signing; his view was that the deal created an expectation of reopening that had no ships behind it, with more than 500 vessels still anchored in the Gulf.

Larsen's role in the Hormuz story is that of the operational reality check on the political announcement. His assessment that the two tanker transits logged on 15-16 June were IRGC toll passages rather than a lane reopening was the clearest signal that the physical and insurance conditions for normal traffic had not been met, regardless of what the memorandum said.