
Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz trade route in the Middle East war is driving up the costs of shipping fuel and goods around the world, industry data shows. Prices have risen because of falling capacity, with ships staying put in the Gulf for fear of attack if they set sail. Other ships are taking long, costly alternative routes to avoid the strait — while the reduction of oil flows has raised the price of boats’ fuel. “We’ve had to stop bookings … from and to the upper Gulf region because we can’t get the ships in nor out,” said Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive of major container shipping line Hapag-Lloyd last week, estimating the war had driven up costs by “$40, 50 million per week”. “A big chunk of that is bunker fuel prices, but also in categories like insurance or container storage and inland transportation, we have seen costs go up, and we have six ships that we cannot use today, which reduces the available capacity,” he told a news conference. Here are five data indicators of how the crisis ...