About our Strait of Hormuz news
Latest news on the Strait of Hormuz, covering oil shipping, the Iran crisis, tanker attacks, energy prices and global trade through this vital Gulf chokepoint.
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula — bordered by Oman and the United Arab Emirates to the south — connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the open ocean. Just 21 nautical miles wide at its narrowest point, it is the world's most important maritime chokepoint for energy. Before the current crisis, roughly 20 million barrels of oil per day transited the strait, representing about one-fifth of global petroleum consumption. It is also a critical corridor for liquefied natural gas (LNG), handling around 20% of global LNG trade, with Qatar and the UAE exporting nearly all their LNG through the passage.
The strait became the focal point of a global energy crisis following the launch of joint US-Israeli military strikes on Iran on 28 February 2026. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) declared the strait closed and threatened to set ablaze any vessel attempting passage. Tanker traffic plunged by more than 95%, with only a trickle of ships — mostly Chinese, Indian, Turkish and Pakistani-flagged vessels granted individual permission by Tehran — making the transit. As of mid-March, only around 90 tankers had crossed the strait since the start of the conflict, compared with a pre-crisis rate of over 100 vessels per day. Brent crude oil prices surged above $100 per barrel, an increase of more than 40% from their pre-war level, while European natural gas prices also spiked sharply.
The blockade has stranded thousands of seafarers aboard vessels in the Persian Gulf, with roughly 400 ships waiting in the Gulf of Oman for safe passage. Insurance premiums for war risk have soared, making transit economically prohibitive for many operators even where physical passage might be possible. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have diverted oil through alternative pipelines — the East-West Crude Oil Pipeline to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, and the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline to Fujairah — but their combined capacity of 3.5 to 5.5 million barrels per day falls far short of the strait's normal throughput. Attacks on alternative export infrastructure, including drone strikes on Omani ports and a fire near Dubai International Airport, have further constrained options.
The crisis has triggered intense diplomatic activity. US President Donald Trump called for a naval coalition to secure the strait, but major European allies including the United Kingdom, France and Germany declined to participate militarily, with several leaders stressing that the conflict was not a NATO mission. The US military responded by deploying bunker buster munitions against Iranian missile positions along the coast near the strait, aiming to degrade threats to commercial shipping. Meanwhile, China — which receives 45% of its oil via Hormuz — has been in talks with Tehran to secure safe passage for its vessels, and India, Turkey and Pakistan have each negotiated individual transits. The crisis has been described as the largest disruption to global energy supply since the 1970s oil shocks.
Threats to close the Strait of Hormuz have a long history in the region's geopolitics. During the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, both sides targeted oil tankers in what became known as the Tanker War, and the US conducted Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in 1988. Iran has periodically threatened to block the strait in response to international pressure, particularly over its nuclear programme, although such a closure had never been sustained until the current conflict. The IRGC has spent decades fortifying islands at the mouth of the Gulf, including Abu Musa, with underground missile facilities, drone bases and surveillance infrastructure, making the strait one of the most heavily militarised waterways on earth.
The disruption to the Strait of Hormuz has consequences that extend well beyond oil prices. Asian economies — particularly China, India, Japan and South Korea, which collectively receive the vast majority of crude shipped through the passage — face serious supply risks. Countries such as Bangladesh and Pakistan, which rely heavily on Qatari LNG for electricity generation, are especially vulnerable. The crisis has also disrupted global shipping routes, increased freight and insurance costs, and raised concerns about food security, as the strait handles a significant share of global sulphur exports used in fertiliser production. Our ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ feed on the Strait of Hormuz brings together the latest developments from reliable sources, covering shipping movements, oil prices, diplomatic developments and military operations, keeping you informed on this fast-moving and globally significant story.