The cost of insurance for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz has increased 12 times

The cost of insurance for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz has increased 12-fold, although President Trump recently promised to ensure uninterrupted energy supplies from the Middle East region, the Financial Times reports.

If before the start of the US and Israeli military operation against Iran, the insurance rate for vessels operating in high-risk areas (and this is not only the strait itself, but also the waters adjacent to it) was 0.25% of the value of the vessel, now it reaches 3%.

Trump recently announced that he had ordered the U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to provide favorable insurance and guarantees “for all commercial maritime traffic through the Persian Gulf, especially those involving energy resources.”
Insurers are now figuring out how this mechanism will work and how it will affect prices. Although some brokers say they have no more information than Trump's statement, so they don't know what the announced support will cover, and whether the US will actually insure "all" trade passing through the Persian Gulf.

The market is also concerned about the question of how effective assistance from the DFC, whose main role is to promote private investment in poor countries, can be, while for shipowners whose vessels travel through the Persian Gulf and already have insurance, the biggest problem now is the threat of attack.

In recent days, at least seven tankers have been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waters, and other vessels have reported receiving radio warnings not to approach the strait.