The United States could withdraw from the conflict with Iran without re-opening the Strait of Hormuz, as a small flow of vessels continues to make transit through the waterway and a new attack on a tanker was reported by security monitors.
Published reports said President Donald Trump was considering withdrawing U.S. military forces from the region within weeks. After allies rejected his calls to support the American initiative, Trump told reporters Tuesday that those countries may be left to secure crude oil supplies on their own.
Other reports said Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were urging Trump to continue U.S. attacks Iran.
A trickle of bulkers, tankers and general cargo ships are passing through the entrance to the Persian Gulf controlled by Iran – a significant share of them sanctioned vessels.
In a new incident, British security monitors reported a tanker suffered hull damage after it was hit by an unknown projectile near Qatar. There were no reported injuries.
One analyst estimated 34,000 ships have been diverted since Iran closed the Strait, resetting port operations in the Middle East.
Vessel tracking showed an 850-TEU Greek-owned container ship flagged in St. Kitts and 6,600-TEU Iranian flagged and owned ship currently under sanction by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), shipping analyst Lars Jensen wrote on social media.
Published bunker indexes show fuel prices around $650–$890 per metric ton as of April 1, 2026 across major ports in a strong but uneven market. Prices are around the spike seen during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Jensen said.
Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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