The Strait of Hormuz is just one trade chokepoint facing a new era of maritime warfare

📰 source: cnbc_topnews · 💼 business

maritime chokepoints from the strait of hormuz to the black sea are becoming battlegrounds in a new era of drone and missile warfare. roughly 80% of global trade moves by sea, and attacks on commercial vessels have disrupted routes, raised insurance and freight costs, and forced reroutings. quantum strategy estimates 25% of russia's grain and 25-30% of its black sea oil exports could be disrupted. ukraine says it has degraded one-third of russia's black sea fleet since 2022. in the strait of hormuz, traffic is running at about half normal flow, and insurers note higher war risk premiums. david roche of quantum strategy calls it 'the first maritime offensive conducted almost entirely with drones.' analysts warn the next flashpoint could be the panama canal, caught in us-china-panama tensions. shipping firms are preparing for a world where new chokepoints emerge before old ones reopen, with structural shifts like overland corridors and bypass pipelines becoming permanent features. as one expert put it, 'the strait will reopen. the assumption that it stays open for free will not return.'

why it matters: rising geopolitical risks to key maritime chokepoints are driving up shipping costs and supply chain uncertainty, threatening global trade flows and energy prices.

source: cnbc_topnews
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