Submitted by Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com,
Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines, the world’s largest tanker operator, expects the shipping disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz to continue for longer than previously expected, with no normalization by the end of the year, due to this week’s re-escalation of hostilities.
“Given the current situation, it’s difficult to see operations resuming in any form by the end of the year,” Mitsui OSK Lines’ chief executive Jotaro Tamura told Bloomberg in an interview published on Thursday.
In a quarterly financial report last month, Mitsui OSK assumed that “navigation around the Strait of Hormuz will gradually resume from October 2026 and be normalized in January 2027.”
However, the recent flare-up of hostilities, with the first strikes the U.S. and Iran exchanged in more than a month, has led to deterioration of the situation.
“The situation continues to be well beyond the level of risk we can accept,” the executive told Bloomberg.
