Strait Of Hormuz Crisis Exposes Hidden Powers

By Author: P Sesh Kumar
Total Articles: 3
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Strait of Hormuz Crisis Exposes Hidden Power of Shipping Insurance

There is a central claim doing rounds in social media which is startling but not silly: the Strait of Hormuz is not paralysed merely because missiles fly, drones strike and navies posture, but because the commercial machinery that makes shipping legally and financially possible has seized up. The claim’s real insight is that modern sea power is no longer just about who controls the water; it is also about who underwrites the voyage.

In that sense, the Trump administration’s $20 billion DFC reinsurance programme is a remarkable admission that military deterrence alone cannot restart commerce if insurers, ports, lenders, charterers and shipowners refuse to play. Yet the claim may also be stretching the point too far in places. The underlying market has not disappeared altogether, and the precise arithmetic of the “$332 billion shortfall” should be treated as an analytical claim, not as holy scripture.

Even so, the broad warning is serious and deserves to be taken seriously by us in India, perhaps more than by almost any other major ...
... economy, because India’s crude, LPG, LNG, freight exposure and inflation sensitivity make Strait of Hormuz not a distant war story but a domestic economic pressure point.

The crisis in the Strait of Hormuz is not mainly a military problem but a financial and insurance problem. Even though the United States has deployed powerful aircraft carriers and naval forces to the region, that military presence alone cannot make oil tankers move through the strait.

To address this problem, the US government announced a $20 billion reinsurance program through the Development Finance Corporation (DFC). This government-backed insurance is meant to cover potential losses for ships carrying critical cargo such as oil, LNG, gasoline, jet fuel, and fertilizer.

We investigate, document, raise awareness, support survivors, and push for real accountability — because silence protects the exploiters.