The vessel reported damage off Oman while negotiators worked on a new arrangement for commercial shipping through the strait.
The chokepointMap
One strait, a quarter of the world's seaborne oil
A cargo ship was hit somewhere in the Strait of Hormuz. The strait is the only sea exit from the Persian Gulf, which is why one damaged ship is a story about everybody's energy supply.
A globe centred on the Strait of Hormuz, showing the strait as the only sea exit from the Persian Gulf and the approximate area in which a cargo ship was reported struck. Places marked: Strait of Hormuz; Cargo ship struck (approximate, within about 70 km); Muscat. Drawn across the map: Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — standing feature of the geography. Figures: Oil through Hormuz in 2025, 20m barrels a day; of global seaborne oil trade, 25%; of global LNG trade, 19%; barrels a day the alternative pipelines could take, 3.5m–5.5m.
Route through the geographyRing = approximate positionAll routes here are schematic
What this map shows, as data
| Place | Role | Position | What the reporting says | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strait of Hormuz | Chokepoint | 26.60°N, 56.50°E | About 20 million barrels of oil a day passed through in 2025 — roughly a quarter of global seaborne oil trade. | Wikidata Q79883, Strait of Hormuz |
| Cargo ship struck | Reported struck | 26.60°N, 56.50°E — approximate, within about 70 km | A cargo ship reported being hit by an unknown projectile. UKMTO did not identify the vessel, its flag or its cargo. No source identified who fired. | AP: Iran and Oman make progress on a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz |
| Muscat | Place | 23.59°N, 58.38°E | Oman and Iran reported progress on a new arrangement for shipping through the strait; the terms were unsettled. | Natural Earth (public domain) |
| Drawn | Kind | Status | What the reporting says | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz | Route | Standing feature of the geography | Everything leaving the Persian Gulf by sea passes the strait. The Gulf has no other sea exit. Route is schematic: the reporting does not give an alignment. | Wikidata Q79883, Strait of Hormuz |
| Figure | Value | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oil through Hormuz in 2025 | 20m barrels a day | — | IEA: Strait of Hormuz factsheet |
| of global seaborne oil trade | 25% | — | IEA: Strait of Hormuz factsheet |
| of global LNG trade | 19% | — | IEA: Strait of Hormuz factsheet |
| barrels a day the alternative pipelines could take | 3.5m–5.5m | IEA estimate. Less than a third of what the strait carries. | IEA: Strait of Hormuz factsheet |
Where every coordinate came from
- Coordinates: Wikidata Q79883 (Strait of Hormuz), 26.60°N 56.50°E.
- Position not published. The reporting places the strike only “in the Strait of Hormuz off Oman”, so it is drawn as a 70 km uncertainty ring on the strait's published centre rather than as a pin.
- Coordinates: Natural Earth 1:10m populated places, Admin-0 capital “Muscat”.
- Schematic. Drawn as two great-circle segments between open water in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, through the strait's published centre. Not a traffic-separation-scheme alignment.
Sources: AP: Iran and Oman make progress on a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz · IEA: Strait of Hormuz factsheet · Wikidata Q79883, Strait of Hormuz · Natural Earth (public domain)
Pipelines could take about a quarter of what Hormuz carries
One damaged ship does not move global supply. The reason the strait matters is that there is nowhere else to put the oil.
The numbers
| Millions of barrels a day | Crude oil | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Through Hormuz, 2025 | 20 | roughly 25% of seaborne oil trade |
| Pipelines could redirect | 5.5 | IEA high estimate; 3.5 low |