Hormuz closure strands almost 1,200 cargo ships with $125bn worth of goods

More than 1,200 cargo ships carrying about $125bn in goods remain stranded after the disruption to the Strait of Hormuz, according to Allianz, highlighting how much damage the shutdown of one of the world’s most important shipping chokepoints has done to global trade.

The estimate, first reported by the Financial Times, comes as traffic through the strait begins to recover slowly after a U.S.-Iran peace arrangement. But the reopening is still partial, and industry data suggest the route remains fragile rather than back to normal.

The disruption began after strikes on Iran in February 2026 and has now lasted more than 100 days. During that period, cargo owners, insurers and freight operators have been left dealing with delayed shipments, higher war-risk exposure and the prospect of prolonged claims.

A chokepoint under strain

Before the disruption, roughly 135 vessels a day crossed the strait and about a fifth of the world’s oil passed through it, according to the FT’s background reporting. That scale is why even a limited shutdown quickly rippled through shipping schedules, insurance pricing and cargo flows.

The FT said Lloyd’s List Intelligence data showed 69 crossings in the week to June 21, up from 24 the previous week. That is a clear improvement, but it is still far short of pre-crisis traffic.

The FT also reported that more than 40 ships were hit during the conflict and 14 seafarers were killed, citing International Maritime Organization data. Around 300,000 twenty-foot equivalent containers remain stranded in the Gulf, according to Kuehne+Nagel.

What is still blocking normal shipping

AP reported that the central channel remains blocked by mines, which continues to constrain movement through the waterway. Its reporting said normal shipping is still not back, even as more vessels begin to venture through.

The same AP account said Iran has agreed not to charge passage tolls for 60 days, but has created a new authority to oversee vessel registration. Legal and industry experts warned that tolls on transit through the strait would violate international law.

That leaves ship operators facing a mix of security, regulatory and insurance uncertainty. Even with more crossings, the route is not yet behaving like a fully reopened commercial corridor.

Allianz described the closure as unprecedented and said it has changed the risk picture for marine insurers. That matters both for current claims and for how war-risk pricing may evolve if traffic remains unstable.

Who is affected

The disruption has hit a wide set of actors across the shipping chain. Cargo owners are waiting on delayed goods, freight forwarders are reworking schedules, shipping lines are managing reroutes and insurers are recalculating exposure.

Seafarers have also borne part of the cost. The IMO figures cited by the FT point to more than 40 ships damaged in the conflict and 14 deaths, underscoring that the crisis has not only been a trade problem but also a safety issue.

For the broader market, the Gulf congestion is still working its way through inventories, vessel schedules and contract deadlines. The stranded cargo estimate suggests the backlog remains large even after traffic started to return.

What happens next

The immediate question is whether the rise in crossings continues over the next several days or stalls again if security conditions worsen.

Also unresolved is how quickly mines in the central channel can be cleared, whether Iran, Oman or the U.S. formalize any toll or registration regime and how fast insurance prices and war-risk clauses normalize.

For now, the Strait of Hormuz remains a partially reopened chokepoint with enormous economic stakes. The latest estimates show that even a limited shutdown can trap billions of dollars in cargo and leave global shipping exposed for weeks or months afterward.