The Strait of Hormuz sees more attacks: "In the latest incident on the trade route, an Indian cargo vessel carrying livestock from Africa to the United Arab Emirates was sunk on Thursday in waters off the coast of Oman," reports Reuters. All 14 crew members were rescued. But in a separate incident, "British maritime security agency UKMTO reported on Thursday that 'unauthorised personnel' had boarded a ship anchored off the coast of the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah, and were steering it towards Iran." Japanese and Chinese tankers have successfully brokered deals with Iranian authorities to pass through this week, with Chinese shipping companies in particular becoming rather obsequious toward Iran in a bid to ensure safety.
For a while during the war, an average of eight ships had been passing through the strait daily, down from a daily average of 130 prior to tensions escalating. Now, it's rebounded a bit: roughly 30 ships have passed through between Wednesday evening and now. But Iran is very much in control, and one must curry favor with it to guarantee safe passage. President Donald Trump's attempt last week to shepherd ships through fell flat and was paused indefinitely.
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