About 100 Hong Kong-Linked Ships Stranded in the Strait of Hormuz
About 100 Hong Kong-linked merchant vessels remain stranded in the Strait of Hormuz as the Iran war drags on, the South China Morning Post reports. Crews face mounting strain while insurance and chartering costs spiral.
Roughly 100 ships flying the Hong Kong flag, run by Hong Kong-based operators or covered by Hong Kong insurance policies are stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, the South China Morning Post reports. A large share carry crude oil, LNG and container cargo.
Only a handful of LNG tankers have been allowed through a narrow safety corridor in the past 24 hours. The Hong Kong Maritime Industry Council says crew rotations have effectively stopped and some seafarers are now into a sixth week of waiting. Insurance premiums on the Asia-Europe route are reported to have risen roughly fivefold.
Chinese port operators and Hong Kong shipowners openly point to ongoing Beijing-Tehran-Washington diplomacy. Hormuz is expected to feature prominently on the agenda of the upcoming Trump-Xi summit. Brent crude prices in Asia rose around 4% over the past week.
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