Strait of Hormuz: Wetin go happun if Iran close di global oil corridor?

Three ships for di of Strait of Hormuz, world busiest oil shipping channel dey hit by "unknown projectiles", di UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) report.

One commercial vessel dey damaged off di coast of di United Arab Emirates, dem remove di second one for north of Oman afta e catch fire, and di third sustain damage for north-west of Dubai on 11 March, di monitoring service say.

Meanwhile, di US military say e don "eliminate" 16 Iranian mine-laying ships for di strait.

About 20% of di world oil usually pass through di strait and di war don reduce sea traffic and send global oil prices to begin dey go up.

Iran bin say dem go "set fire" to any ship wey try to pass through di Strait, but veri small amount of traffic don kontinu.

Blocking di strait fit further inflate di cost of goods and services worldwide, and hit some of di world biggest economies, including China, India and Japan, wey dey among di top importers of crude oil passing through di waterway.

Wetin be di Strait of Hormuz - and wia e dey?

Di Strait of Hormuz na one of di world most important shipping routes, and dia most important oil transit choke point.

To di north by Iran and to di south by Oman and di United Arab Emirates (UAE), di corridor wey be only about 50km (31 miles) wide at dia entrance and exit, and about 33km wide at dia narrowest point – connect di Gulf wit di Arabian Sea.

Di strait dey deep enof for di world biggest crude oil tankers, and dey used by di major oil and gas producers for di Middle East – and dia customers.

For 2025, about 20 million barrels of oil pass through di Strait of Hormuz per day, according to estimate from di US Energy Information Administration (EIA) – dat na nearly $600bn (£447bn) worth of energy trade per year.

Dat oil come not only from Iran, but also oda Gulf states such as Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and di UAE.

Wetin fit be di impact of closing di strait?

About 3,000 or so ships usually sail through di strait each month.

Analysts warn say di longer di threats to ships passing through di strait, di higher di price of oil and di shipping go be.

"Na di de facto close for dat wey no one dares to go through," Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, chief analyst for Global Risk Management, provider of energy market insights, tell CBS News, di BBC US partner, last week.

"You fit chop attack, and you fit no get insurance or e dey extremely expensive, so you gatz wait until di security situation dey better... If oil and gas come from di strait dey cut off, dat get significant ramifications for di market," e add.

"While no physical blockade dey, threats from di Iranians, plus drone and missile attacks, mean tankers no dey go through di strait."

Tok tok pesin for Iran foreign affairs ministry, Esmail Baghaei, tell CNBC on Monday say oil tankers passing through di strait "must dey very careful".

Oil go high past $100 per barrel on Monday, bifor Trump say di war dey "very far ahead of schedule" and "very complete, pretty much". Im comments lead to fall for di oil price, wey dey now closer to $90 per barrel, but e still well above pre-war levels.

According to data from di London Stock Exchange Group, di cost of hiring supertanker to ship oil from di Middle East to China don almost double from last week price to record high of more than $400,000 (£298,300).

Di almost complete closure of di vital shipping lane don also hurt Gulf countries, like Saudi Arabia, wey dia economies rely heavily on energy exports.

Iran, by comparison, exports about 1.7 million barrels per day, according to di International Energy Agency. Iran export $67bn (£50bn) worth of oil for di financial year ending March 2025 – dia highest oil revenue for di past decade – according to estimates by di Central Bank of Iran.

A blockade of di strait go also hit Asia hard.

For 2022, around 82% of crude oil and condensates (low-density liquid hydrocarbons wey typically occur wit natural gas) leaving di Strait of Hormuz dey bound for Asian countries, according to EIA estimates.

China alone dey estimated to buy around 90% of di oil wey Iran exports to the di global market.

Becos China use dat oil to make products wey e dey exports to oda countries, higher oil prices fit also mean higher prices for consumers around di world.

How Iran fit close di strait?

United Nations rule allow kontris make dem control of territorial seas up to 12 nautical miles (13.8 miles) from dia coastline.

At dia narrowest point, di Strait of Hormuz and dia shipping lanes lie entirely within Iran and Oman territorial waters.

E dey unclear exactly how Iran plan to shut di strait but according to experts one of di most effective ways for dem to do am go be to lay mines using fast attack boats and submarines.

Iran regular navy and di IRGC navy fit potentially launch attacks on foreign warships and commercial vessels.

Howeva, large military ships fit in turn become easy targets for US air strikes, and Trump say one of im aims na to destroy Iran navy.

Iran fast boats dey often armed wit anti-ship missiles, and di country also operate a range of surface vessels, semi-submersible craft and submarines.

Di US don previously use dia military might to re-establish di flow of maritime traffic through di strait.

For di late 1980s, during di eight-year Iran-Iraq war, strikes on oil facilities escalate into "tanker war" wey see both countries attacking neutral ships to exert economic pressure.

Kuwaiti tankers carrying Iraqi oil dey especially vulnerable. Eventually, American warships begin escorting dem through di Gulf for wetin become one of di largest naval surface warfare operations since World War Two, according to di US Naval Institute.

Alternative routes fit offset di blockade?

Di persistent threat of closure of di Strait of Hormuz ova di years, prompted oil-exporting countries for di Gulf region to develop alternative export routes.

Saudi Arabia operate 1,200km-long pipeline capable of transporting up to 5 million barrels of crude oil per day, according to di EIA.

For di past e don also temporarily repurpose natural gas pipeline to carry crude oil.

Di United Arab Emirates don connect dia inland oilfields to di port of Fujairah on di Gulf of Oman via a pipeline wit daily capacity of at least 1.5 million barrels.

Oil fit dey diverted along di alternate infrastructure to bypass di Strait of Hormuz, but Reuters reports say e go lead to drop in supply of between 8-10 million barrels per day.