Two container ships have been seized in the Strait of Hormuz and taken towards Bandar Abbas, in a fresh escalation for carriers still dealing with rerouting, higher war-risk costs and unstable Gulf calls. The Pentagon has meanwhile told U.S. lawmakers that clearing mines in the waterway could take as long as six months, while oil has climbed again, pushing fuel costs higher.
Reuters reported that the vessels seized by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were the Panama-flagged MSC Francesca and the Liberia-flagged Epaminondas. Around 40 seafarers were on board the two ships and the crews were reported safe.
The immediate issue for the liner market is not only whether ships can transit, but on what terms. Every new seizure makes the Strait harder to price, harder to insure and harder to schedule around, particularly for carriers with Gulf calls still on the books.
The Pentagon warning points to a much longer timetable than the market had been working with. AP reported that U.S. defence officials told lawmakers in a classified House Armed Services Committee briefing this week that mine clearance in the Strait could take six months.
That sits ahead of the timeline carriers have already given for getting their networks back into shape. Reuters reported on April 8 that Hapag-Lloyd expected it would still need six to eight weeks to restore normal traffic once the Middle East stabilised. The line also said the crisis was costing it $50 million-$60 million a week, with some of that likely to be passed on to customers.
So even if safe passage is restored earlier than the Pentagon’s estimate suggests, the commercial clean-up would still take time. Schedules, vessel rotations and equipment flows would all need to be reset after weeks of disruption.
Oil is moving faster than the container market. Reuters reported on Friday that Brent rose to about $107 a barrel, up 18% on the week, while WTI climbed to $96.61 and was up 15% over the same period. Reuters also said the Strait had previously handled about 20% of global crude and LNG flows.
