The world’s most critical maritime chokepoint is effectively shut. Since late February 2026, the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to global shipping lanes, has been at the center of the largest energy and shipping disruption in decades. 

For businesses moving goods internationally, the ripple effects are already being felt across nearly every major industry. Transportation consultant Thomas Witt has been following the crisis closely and breaks down what shippers need to understand right now. 

Read the full crisis overview from CNBC here.

How We Got Here

On February 28, 2026, the United States launched Operation Epic Fury, an air and maritime campaign targeting Iranian military infrastructure. Iran retaliated by closing the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping. The IRGC officially confirmed the closure on March 2, and all major carriers including Maersk, CMA CGM, MSC, and Hapag-Lloyd suspended transits. 

Making things worse, Houthi forces resumed Red Sea attacks on February 28, forcing Suez Canal traffic back around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. Both of the world’s most important maritime corridors went down simultaneously.

A Breakdown of the Numbers

The scale of this disruption is historic. Tanker traffic dropped approximately 70%, with over 150 ships anchoring outside the strait, and Brent crude surpassed $100 per barrel on March 8 for the first time in four years, peaking at $126 per barrel. 

Just 21 tankers transited the route in the first three weeks of conflict, compared with more than 100 ships daily before hostilities began. War risk insurance premiums climbed to four or five times their previous levels, making the route commercially unworkable even for operators willing to accept the physical risk. 

On March 11, all 32 IEA member countries unanimously agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil into the global market, more than twice the previous record set after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Industries Affected

The damage extends well beyond oil. Here’s where it’s hitting hardest:

Energy: The disruption has been described as the largest to the global energy supply since the 1970s energy crisis. Iraq and Kuwait began curtailing oil production in early March as local storage filled with nowhere to export.

Agriculture & Fertilizers: The closure has suspended movement of roughly 30% of global ammonia-based nitrogen fertilizer. The cost of urea at the New Orleans import hub rose 32% in a single week. U.S. corn and soy planting seasons will feel this directly.

Plastics & Petrochemicals: About 85% of polyethylene exports from the Middle East transit this route. Shortages will raise prices for packaging, automotive components, and consumer goods. 

Automotive: Global automakers are facing soaring energy and petrochemical costs, disrupted supply chains, and shipping delays threatening vehicle production into summer 2026.

Semiconductors: Qatar supplies 98% of exports of specialty gases including helium, neon, and argon — critical inputs for chip manufacturing — affecting producers in China, Taiwan, South Korea, and the U.S.

LNG: Qatar halted LNG production after Iranian drones struck its Ras Laffan and Mesaieed facilities. Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India face acute shortages if this persists.

How Carriers Are Responding

Maersk, MSC, Hapag-Lloyd, and CMA CGM have all suspended transits and rerouted vessels around the southern tip of Africa. Exceptions are being made for essential goods including food and medicine. 

Some passage is happening selectively. Iran has described the strait as “open, but closed to our enemies,” granting permission-based transits to vessels from China, India, and Pakistan. On March 19, the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Japan issued a joint statement voicing readiness to contribute to efforts ensuring safe passage, though no specific commitments or timelines were provided. 

What This Means for Your Supply Chain

Thomas Witt, executive leader at JLE Industries emphasizes that the compounding nature of this crisis is what makes it uniquely dangerous for shippers. It isn’t just Hormuz in isolation. Both major Middle Eastern shipping corridors are disrupted at the same time, leaving vessels with no fast alternative to rerouting around the entire continent of Africa. That means longer transit times, higher freight rates, surging insurance costs, and tighter capacity across global networks.

The Dallas Fed estimates that a one-quarter closure would lower global real GDP growth by an annualized 2.9 percentage points, with oil prices potentially staying elevated well into late 2026 if the disruption persists beyond a single quarter. No clear resolution timeline exists. Supply chain planning should treat this as a prolonged disruption, not a short-term blip.

For shippers, the immediate priorities are reviewing contracts for force majeure provisions, communicating proactively with logistics partners about revised routing and timelines, and building contingency plans around the assumption that normal Hormuz transit won’t resume quickly. The businesses that adapt their planning now will be far better positioned than those waiting for conditions to normalize on their own.