US vows insurance, escorts as oil, gas flows disrupted

• Crisis deepens as US sub sinks Iranian warship off Sri Lanka, killing 87• Hormuz shipping paralysed for fifth day; traffic plunges 90pc• Major shipping firms halt transits; insurers withdraw war-risk cover• Qatar halts LNG liquefaction; S. Arabia reroutes crude via Red Sea

LONDON: The US Iran war widened on Wedne­sday after a US strike hit an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka, deepening a crisis that has paralysed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz for a fifth day and choked off vital Middle East oil and gas flows.

The US submarine stri­ke on the Iranian vessel, which killed 87 sailors, came as US President Donald Trump pledged to provide insurance and navy escorts to ships expo­rting oil and gas from the Middle East in a bid to contain soaring energy prices.

However, the world’s top shipping companies have announced they will not send their vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and major insurers have pulled war risk coverage.

The energy market inte­l­l­igence firm Kpler said on Wednesday that oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has plunged but not completely halted following the outbreak of the war. “Analysis of vessel activity indicates tanker tr­­a­nsits are now around 90pc lower than last week” thr­ough the vital waterway.

At least 200 ships, including oil and liquefied natural gas tankers as well as cargo ships, remained at anchor in open waters off the coast of major Gulf producers including Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, according to Reuters estimates based on ship-tracking data from the Mar­ineTraffic platform.

Hundreds of other vessels remained outside Hor­muz unable to reach ports, shipping data showed. The waterway is a key artery for around a fifth of the world’s oil and LNG supply.

The Maltese-flagged container ship Safeen Prestige was also damaged by a........

© Dawn Business