In recent times, as the military conflict between the United States and Israel with Iran continues to escalate, Iran has announced the blockade of the Hormuz Strait, severely impacting global shipping and trade, and affecting international shipping operators and exporters. A Chinese freight forwarder stated that they have incurred losses of nearly $200,000.
According to a report by the “New Beijing News,” Chinese sailors are trapped outside the strait, not only worrying about being attacked by gunfire but also facing a shortage of supplies on board.
A Chinese seaman named Gu Chao said that he and his crew have been stranded in the Hormuz Strait for over ten days.
In recent days, as the strait remains blocked, the number of ships gathered outside the strait has started to decrease. Gu Chao mentioned, “Many shipowners see no hope of the strait reopening, so they are changing routes or canceling voyages.” Additionally, there is a growing concern about the dwindling freshwater and vegetables on board. Originally scheduled to arrive at their destination on March 5th, the supplies on the ship will only last until March 20th.
At the end of February, the merchant vessel Gu Chao works on departed loaded with grains from China, intending to pass through the Hormuz Strait and arrive in Iraq on March 5th. However, as the vessel sailed through the Gulf of Aden, tensions in Iran escalated.
Gu Chao mentioned, “My phone kept buzzing with notifications, one moment about the U.S. deploying warships to the Middle East, the next about Iran designating the EU navy and air forces as terrorist organizations. I saw a ship resembling a warship speeding towards the Hormuz Strait with my own eyes.”
The blockade of the Hormuz Strait has affected freight forwarders as well. Wei Qiao, a Chinese agent engaged in international freight forwarding, has become stuck in the middle.
Wei Qiao has been extremely overwhelmed these days. Shortly after the closure of the Hormuz Strait, his phone was bombarded with calls from cargo owners. Cargo that was already loaded needed unloading, while cargoes not yet loaded required storage; cargoes scheduled to sail were requested to be canceled. Within less than two weeks, he had incurred losses of 1.4 million RMB.
On March 1st, notifications from shipping companies in the Middle East stated that most merchant vessels passing through the Hormuz Strait were anchored nearby. Shipping companies provided two solutions: cargo owners could either cancel shipments or choose to unload at the nearest port. The former option required an additional return shipping fee, while the latter necessitated negotiating with the consignee to change the receiving port. Regardless of the chosen solution, cargo owners had to bear a war surcharge ranging from 2,000 to 4,000 USD.
Wei Qiao relayed the information to cargo owners, receiving mixed reactions. Some canceled, some were indecisive, and some even spoke harshly. Wei Qiao understood their predicament; some items were custom-made, and finding new buyers after canceling was challenging, while some cargo owners had ordered over ten containers of goods, and the consignees were reluctant to incur high land transportation costs for changing the port, leading them to abandon the goods.
As a middleman, Wei Qiao couldn’t compensate for the cargo owners’ losses or force sailors to risk entering the strait.
Traditionally, after the Chinese New Year is the peak period for international shipping. Many cargo owners rush to process accumulated orders and ship them overseas after the holidays. Wei Qiao mentioned that during the spring shipping season, he usually booked around a dozen ships destined for the Middle East every month. Roughly estimating, since the closure of the Hormuz Strait at the end of February, his losses have accumulated to nearly $200,000.
Exporting businesses domestically are also heavily affected. A leather goods vendor, Zheng Xiaohong, who has been involved in international trade in Tianjin for nearly a decade, mainly serves clients from the Middle East, with goods often passing through the Hormuz Strait to reach countries like Iran, Iraq, and Oman. This is her first encounter with the closure of the Hormuz Strait. Currently, Zheng Xiaohong has 20 containers drifting outside the strait or being rerouted to other ports.
Zheng Xiaohong received a message from the freight forwarder stating that the goods scheduled to arrive in Oman on the 3rd had been redirected to be unloaded at the port of Jebel Ali in the UAE.
She mentioned that shipping back to the country was unreasonably expensive, while cross-border pickups resulted in high land transport costs, causing some consignees to opt for abandoning the goods. What worried her more was that some long-standing Middle Eastern clients had completely lost contact, leaving their fate uncertain. In this predicament, she not only suffered losses exceeding 500,000 RMB but also faced the collapse of her meticulously nurtured overseas channels over a decade.
Shipping companies are also facing difficulties. Mr. Liao, the head of a shipping company in East China, stated, “As the party responsible for transporting the cargo, each day a vessel drifts at sea results in a loss of around $20,000.”
Liao mentioned that the strait is currently dangerous, and shipowners refusing to enter the Hormuz Strait due to life-threatening risks is justifiable. However, from a financial standpoint, each day a ship floats at sea amounts to a loss of around $20,000.
From the end of February to now, there is no definitive confirmation on whether the Hormuz Strait is closed.
On February 28th, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared the complete closure of the Hormuz Strait. On March 12th, Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader, Mujtaba Khamenei, stated in his first declaration after taking office, that they would continue to use the strategy of blocking the Hormuz Strait.
On March 14th, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Araghchi, mentioned that the Hormuz Strait was, in fact, open, but closed to Iran’s enemies. Araghchi explained, “Other countries’ ships are free to pass through, though many vessels opt not to pass through due to safety concerns, which is unrelated to us.”
Now, the navigational status of the Hormuz Strait has drawn global attention. On March 13th, when answering media questions, US President Trump stated that the US Navy would soon begin escorting oil tankers through the Hormuz Strait, mentioning, “It will happen soon, very quickly.”