With jagged cliffs rising from the Arabian Sea, the Strait of Hormuz is striking in its scenery — and these days, its emptiness. This resource superhighway, which normally hosts more than a hundred of the world’s largest oil and liquid natural gas (LNG) tankers every day, has seen no more than a handful all week.
They are the brave ones, daring to run these front lines where U.S. and Iranian naval forces face off. At least 14 commercial vessels have suffered some kind of violent incident, leaving at least eight mariners dead.