Hormuz Has No Escape Route—And That's Why 20,000 Trapped Seafarers Matter to Oil Markets

The Strait of Hormuz carries 20 percent of seaborne oil globally with no alternative route. Unlike Suez or the Cape of Good Hope, Gulf cargo has nowhere else to go. With 29 recorded vessel attacks and the IMO declaring safe transit impossible, sustained closure threatens energy supplies for Gulf producers and Asian importers simultaneously. The 20,000 stranded crew members are a humanitarian crisis; the blocked strait is an economic chokepoint.