The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is linked to the ceasefire in Lebanon. Over 150 Israel Defense Forces attacks in Lebanon from midnight on June 18th until 4:00 PM on June 19th. Over 20 civilians died in the attacks, most of them women and children. And since the last ceasefire, Israel has targeted 11 towns and villages in southern Lebanon, some of which have been hit multiple times by Israeli airstrikes. Iranian state media is calling on the government to close the Strait of Hormuz due to intensified Israeli bombing of Lebanon.
“Block the Strait. Cancel all scheduled negotiations.” “Keeping Hormuz open is absolutely unacceptable and not in line with the promises of the government and negotiators,” writes the IRGC-linked news agency, Tasnim.
About 80 mines remain lodged in the main shipping lane through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the oil tanker trade association Intertanko.
Intertanko Director General Philip Belcher said that the main shipping lane through the Strait remains closed and dangerous due to the presence of mines. He added that traffic is currently being diverted through narrower corridors to the north and south, which pass through Iranian and Omani waters. He explained that the southern Omani route passes close to rocks, increasing the risk of ships running aground, while the concentration of vessels in narrow corridors further increases the risk of collisions.
Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz is facing another problem that threatens to block navigation: seaweed. Demand for divers specialized in removing barnacles and seaweed from ship hulls has increased 30-fold in recent days for vessels that have spent several weeks in the waters near the Strait of Hormuz, a shipping inspector told Bloomberg.
This comes as shipping companies rush to prepare their ships for departure, after the United States and Iran agreed to begin negotiations for a lasting peace—a process that will begin with the reopening of the Strait. A Bloomberg source reported that dive teams can now charge up to $8,000 for barnacle removal, up from $5,000 before the agreement.
Ships anchored in shallow water typically become covered in marine organisms, a process known as biofouling. Besides giving ships the appearance of a college toilet, barnacles and algae slow them down and reduce fuel efficiency. Furthermore, some ports refuse to accept ships with barnacles on their hulls, as they can become breeding grounds for invasive species.
According to the Kpler ship tracking system, over 500 ships are currently stranded near the Strait of Hormuz.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
Follow our updates on Geopolitical Gleanings - Spigolature geopolitiche: https://t.me/agc_NW and on our blog The Gleanings of AGCNEWS - Le Spigolature di AGCNEWS: https://spigolatureagcnews.blogspot.com/
