Threats to shipping have effectively closed the strait of Hormuz since the US-Israel war on Iran began four weeks ago – upending global oil and gas supplies and sending energy prices soaring.
In normal times, tankers carry about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies through the narrow channel and on to the rest of the world, while about a third of the global fertilisers necessary for half of the world’s food production pass through in dry bulk vessels.
