{"id":119368,"date":"2026-03-11T17:47:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T20:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shipping.einnews.com\/article\/898791017"},"modified":"2026-03-11T17:47:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T20:47:41","slug":"persian-gulf-cargo-ships-attacked-sparking-oil-fears-as-iran-war-rages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/11\/persian-gulf-cargo-ships-attacked-sparking-oil-fears-as-iran-war-rages\/","title":{"rendered":"Persian Gulf cargo ships attacked, sparking oil fears as Iran war rages"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several cargo ships in the Persian Gulf were attacked<\/a> on Wednesday, sparking a new spike in oil prices and fresh questions about whether tankers will be able to travel through the Straits of Hormuz as President Trump\u2019s war with Iran rages.<\/p>\n

At least three ships were struck by unknown weapons<\/a>, possibly Iranian drones, igniting fires and leaving at least three crew members missing from a Thai boat that had to be evacuated, authorities said.<\/p>\n

The damaging attacks, which underline the threat Iran poses to oil tankers<\/a>, touched off a new 3% rise in oil prices that will likely lead to higher U.S. gas prices.<\/p>\n

Trump insisted in a new interview Wednesday that the war will be over soon<\/a> because there is \u201cpractically nothing left to target\u201d in Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny time I want it to end, it will end,\u201d Trump told Axios in a five-minute phone conversation. \u201cThey are paying for 47 years of death and destruction they caused. This is payback.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s remarks seemed to put the U.S. at odds with Israel, which says it is planning to continue its campaign against Iran<\/a> indefinitely.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe operation will continue without any time limit, as long as required,\u201d said Defense Minister Israel Katz.<\/p>\n

Trump has warned Iran not to interfere with shipping in the Straits of Hormuz or the U.S. will hit it \u201ctwenty times harder\u201d<\/a> than before.<\/p>\n

\"Oil
Oil tankers and cargo ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Mina Al Fajer, United Arab Emirates on Wednesday. (Altaf Qadri\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So far, Trump\u2019s bluster has fallen on deaf ears<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Although Iran hasn\u2019t formally closed the waterway, a Revolutionary Guard official warned Wednesday that it won\u2019t allow \u201ceven a single liter of oil\u201d<\/a> to pass through the Strait of Hormuz for the benefit of the U.S., Israel, or their allies.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny vessel, or any oil cargo belonging to the United States, the Israeli regime, or their hostile partners will be considered a legitimate target,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

The uncertainty has sent oil prices on a rollercoaster ride<\/a>, jumping by about 30% from its pre-war levels in just a few days.<\/p>\n

Crude skyrocketed again to more than $110 a barrel early Monday after Trump demanded Iran\u2019s \u201cunconditional surrender,\u201d but plunged back to about $80 when he later claimed the war was \u201cvery complete, pretty much\u201d<\/a> and that he was \u201cthinking about taking \u2026 over\u201d the Straits of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

American gas prices have risen by about 20%<\/a> since the war started, raising political pressure on Trump and his Republican allies as the midterm elections loom.<\/p>\n

With the threat higher than ever, insurers have imposed much higher costs on Gulf shippers<\/a>, effectively making it economically infeasible for tankers to sail through the maritime choke point, which normally handles 20% of the world\u2019s oil supply.<\/p>\n

Trump unveiled a so-called political risk insurance plan<\/a> last week in hopes of convincing shipping traffic to resume but details are murky and it\u2019s unclear whether the plan will work.<\/p>\n

So far the U.S. appears unwilling or unable to ensure safe passage by militarily escorting tankers<\/a> through the Iranian gauntlet.<\/p>\n

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright Tuesday posted and then deleted a tweet<\/a> claiming the Navy was escorting ships. The White House admitted it has not escorted any tankers so far.<\/p>\n

About 50 oil tankers a day normally sail through the Straits of Hormuz. That number has plunged to low single digits or zero<\/a> since the war started Feb. 28 as tankers line up inside and outside waiting for a sign that it is safe to pass.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several cargo<\/span> ships in the Persian Gulf were … \u00e2\u0080\u009d than before. Oil tankers and cargo<\/span> ships line up in the Strait … . \u00e2\u0080\u009cAny vessel, or any oil cargo<\/span> belonging to the United States, the Israeli … week in hopes of convincing shipping<\/span> traffic to resume but details …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119368\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}