Cool Heads Prevailed in the Strait of Hormuz
Yet even as the Iranian parliament voted to close the strait, the shipping industry reacted with remarkable sanguinity. Oil prices rose, and maritime insurers' long-standing requirements for voyages through the strait remained in place, but ships sailed through at an almost-normal pace. On June 20, 104 ships transited, and on June 21, 122 ships did so. On June 22, as the U.S. bombed three Iranian nuclear sites, 117 sailed through. In June 2024, an average of 114 ships transited the strait each day. The shipping industry has learned to distinguish between threats and realities, knowing that Iran depends on the passage too. The industry also knows that the Iranian regime remembers the chaos and hardship caused by the 1980s 'Tanker War' between Iran and Iraq. The 451 attacks, most of which were carried out by Iraq, struck 340 ships, killed 116 seafarers and caused enormous disruption to merchant shipping.
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