Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has ground to a near halt as tensions between the US, Israel, and Iran escalate. Just two bulk carriers and a small container ship traversed the waterway on Tuesday, all heading away from the Persian Gulf. The waterway has descended into a digital fog, with signal jamming and widespread disabling of position-reporting transponders making it nearly impossible to track vessels.

This effective closure has sent shockwaves through global commodity markets. Oil prices have surged 14% since the weekend, while natural gas hit its highest levels since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The Persian Gulf region, which supplies a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas, has become a choke point as countries like Iraq shut in production. Sulfur traders are scrambling for alternative supplies for fertilizer and nickel processing industries.

The disruption has caused traffic to plummet by over 95%, with major crude carriers and LNG tankers avoiding the route entirely. Only seven vessels passed through on Monday, down from more than 100 on Friday before the US and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury. The few remaining transits involve ships leaving the Gulf with location transponders turned off, a common practice in conflict zones that has become widespread around Hormuz since the conflict began.