Strait of Hormuz & Gulf Ops Brief: What Changed Since Last Week

Use case: LSP ops teams needing a fast, source-based view of what changed (insurance + carrier operating decisions), plus what to do in the next 72 hours.

60-second take

Insurance is still the gating item, but the story has evolved: early-March war-risk cancellation notices for non-mutual / fixed-premium war-risk covers still matter, but at least some clubs are now moving into buy-back / special acceptance territory rather than a simple covered / not covered frame.
Carrier disruption is broader than last week’s reroute-or-shelter picture: major carriers have moved beyond initial emergency advisories into network redesign, temporary suspensions, booking controls, and surcharge layers. Expect schedule instability, rolled cargo, and uneven acceptance rules by service and commodity.
Do not treat “Hormuz closure” claims as settled: UKMTO continues to describe the environment as highly volatile, warns of GNSS/AIS/VHF interference, and states that closure claims circulated on VHF and in open sources are not formal legal closure notices.
Update your source stack: the original MARAD alert referenced last week has now been superseded by active alert 2026-0001B, effective 06–13 Mar 2026.

A) War-risk insurance: what changed (operational view)

What to assume now: If your cargo or contracted services rely on war-risk cover under non-mutual/fixed-premium extensions, you still face rapid changes in “can we legally/commercially transit” decisions. But the operational question is no longer only whether cover was cancelled. It is now also whether cover is available again via buy-back, revised exclusions, or individual acceptance.

Issuer (examples)	Notice date	Effective time (GMT)	Area referenced (high level)	Ops implication
Gard P&I	01 Mar	00:00, 05 Mar	Iran/Iranian waters (to 12nm) + Persian/Arabian Gulf & adjacent waters	Expect routing and acceptance decisions to tighten; confirm cover position per shipment and contract.
Skuld	01 Mar Updated 09 Mar	00:00, 05 Mar	Iran + Gulf/adjacent waters	Important update: buy-back is now available. Validate whether your move can proceed under revised terms or individual acceptance.
American P&I Club	01 Mar	00:00, 05 Mar	Persian/Arabian Gulf + Gulf of Oman (as defined) and Iran/Iranian waters	Re-check liability and cover assumptions for Gulf transits and service commitments.
London P&I Club	01 Mar	Typically 05 Mar (per notice terms)	Iran/Iranian waters + Persian/Arabian Gulf & adjacent waters	Do not assume prior cover still applies; confirm per assured and voyage segment.
Steamship Mutual	01 Mar	00:00, 04 Mar	Iran/Iranian waters + Persian/Arabian Gulf & adjacent waters	Earlier effective timing than the 05 Mar cluster; prioritize checks now.
West of England P&I	Mar update	Per notice terms	War risks liabilities arising in Iran and the Persian/Arabian Gulf (non-mutual business)	Confirm scope for fixed premium / charterers covers; mutual P&I and FD&D may be treated differently.
UK P&I Club	28 Feb	00:00, 03 Mar	Non-mutual war risks coverage changes (Iran + Gulf region)	Some clubs moved earlier; do not anchor only on 05 Mar.
Shipowners’ Club	02 Mar	Per notice terms	Non-mutual covers (war risks cancellation / alteration notices)	Validate whether your cover is in scope and whether any reinstatement path is available.

Practical reading: Treat insurance as a dynamic go/no-go constraint. If you do not have explicit written confirmation of active cover, revised terms, or approved buy-back, plan as if Gulf / Hormuz legs can still be delayed, rerouted, repriced, or paused on short notice.

B) Carrier advisories: what operators are doing now

Carrier	Dated advisory	Action (ops-relevant)	What to expect downstream
Maersk	01 Mar + follow-up updates through 09 Mar	Initially paused future Trans-Suez sailings through Bab al-Mandeb and rerouted ME11 / MECL via the Cape of Good Hope. Then added vessel contingency updates, port-operation updates, temporary service suspensions, and an emergency freight increase / operational controls tied to the Hormuz situation.	Longer transit times, changed cutoffs, connection misses, rolled bookings, service disruption, and higher manual workload to reconcile shipment status against the latest advisory.
CMA CGM	Updates through early Mar	Vessels inside / bound to Gulf instructed to proceed to shelter; some Suez transits suspended; reroutes via Cape. Separate advisories added booking restrictions for reefer and hazardous cargo.	Port-call changes, alternative discharge planning, backlog risk when operations resume, and commodity-specific acceptance problems.
MSC	Early Mar	Security measures for vessels operating in / transiting the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, including safe-shelter posture and continued caution.	High variability in ETAs, pauses at approach points, and rapid changes to port rotations or onward planning.
Hapag-Lloyd	Late Feb / early Mar + follow-up measures	Suspended Strait of Hormuz transits, added a War Risk Surcharge for Gulf-related cargo, and issued further booking restrictions including suspensions to / from the Upper Gulf and reefer booking suspensions for certain flows.	Transit suspensions, extra cost layers, and more bookings requiring service-by-service validation before customer commitment.

Ops takeaway: The disruption has moved beyond initial incident response. It is now a network-management problem: reroutes, suspensions, stop-bookings, surcharge exposure, and inconsistent acceptance by lane and commodity. When carriers diverge, ops teams lose time chasing updates across multiple portals. A single multi-carrier tracking view from supply chain data platform like Tradlinx helps maintain one source of truth for ETAs, exceptions, and customer updates.

C) Official threat advisories (what they actually say)

US MARAD MSCI Alert 2026-0001B: the earlier 2026-001A alert has been superseded. The active alert remains in force through 13 Mar 2026, cites significant military activity, recommends vessels keep clear where possible, and includes 30 nautical mile standoff guidance for affected US-connected commercial vessels.
UKMTO Advisories: continue to describe the environment as highly volatile and warn of electronic interference, including disruption to AIS and other navigational or communications systems. UKMTO states that closure claims circulated on VHF and in open source reporting are not formal legally recognised closure notices.
Industry guidance (e.g. INTERTANKO): advises delaying Hormuz transits where possible, liaising with NCAGS / EUNAVFOR / UKMTO, following BMP maritime security practices, and treating the area as an active risk-management zone rather than a normal trading environment.

Important nuance: Operationally, the safe assumption is not “closed” or “normal.” It is legally unresolved, operationally constrained, and commercially impaired. Use carrier instructions for the shipment-level decision, and use MARAD / UKMTO / JMIC-style guidance for situational awareness and security posture.

D) 72-hour action checklist (LSP ops)

Re-segment exposure: pull a fresh list of shipments with legs touching the Red Sea / Bab al-Mandeb / Gulf of Oman / Strait of Hormuz / Persian Gulf, including feeder connections and transshipment dependencies.
Confirm insurance position per move: do not rely on the original notices alone. Ask whether cover is active, excluded, reinstated with revised wording, or available via buy-back / individual acceptance.
Separate “transit allowed” from “booking accepted”: a move may still be legally possible while being commercially restricted, repriced, or blocked for specific cargo types or service strings.
Lock the carrier reality: for each booking, capture the latest carrier instruction and whether the issue is shelter, reroute, suspend, stop-booking, surcharge, or service suspension. Record the timestamp and publish a single source of truth internally.
Rebuild ETAs using ranges, not point estimates: move from ETA date to ETA range + last confirmed milestone + next decision point.
Prepare alternates: pre-plan discharge and inland options for high-priority cargo, and document where customs handling or documentation changes would be required.
Special cargo triage: isolate reefer, DG, hazardous, and other special-handling cargo first because restrictions and safety controls are being applied unevenly.
Customer communications: send a short notice with (a) what changed, (b) what it means for ETA reliability, (c) when the next update is expected, (d) what decisions you need from them, and (e) whether surcharge / pricing treatment is still provisional.

Many teams read disruption updates but still chase milestones manually. Tradlinx provides event-based container visibility (e.g., gate-in/out, vessel departure/arrival) and API integration so workflows and alerts can run directly inside your systems.