Panama Canal Near Capacity as Hormuz Crisis Drives Surge in U.S. Energy Exports
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Panama Canal Near Capacity as Hormuz Crisis Drives Surge in U.S. Energy Exports
Mike Schuler
Total Views: 0
May 21, 2026
Traffic through the
Panama Canal
is climbing sharply as disruption in the Strait of Hormuz drives more U.S. energy exports toward Asia and Pacific markets, pushing the waterway close to full operating capacity just as forecasters warn a potentially severe El Niño could return later this year.
“So far this year, ship transits via the Panama Canal have increased 8% y/y to a daily average of 38, driven by the tanker sector,” said BIMCO Shipping Analysis Manager Filipe Gouveia in the shipping association’s latest “Shipping Number of the Week.”
Transits have surged even higher in recent weeks.
BIMCO
said vessel movements through the canal rose 16% year-on-year over the past five weeks as the Iran war and reduced traffic through the Strait of Hormuz disrupted Persian Gulf exports and boosted demand for U.S.
Hormuz Closure Could Send Oil to $200 and Trigger Global Recession, Wood Mackenzie Warns
Stock Photo: Anatoly Menzhiliy / Shutterstock
Hormuz Closure Could Send Oil to $200 and Trigger Global Recession, Wood Mackenzie Warns
Mike Schuler
Total Views: 0
May 20, 2026
A prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz could become the most severe global energy supply shock in decades, with oil prices potentially nearing $200 per barrel in a worst-case scenario, according to new analysis from Wood Mackenzie.
The consultancy said more than 11 million barrels per day of Gulf crude and condensate production remains curtailed, while more than 80 million tonnes per year of LNG supply — roughly 20% of global supply — is still inaccessible to global markets.
“The
Strait of Hormuz
is the most critical chokepoint in global energy markets, and a prolonged closure would become far more than an energy crisis,” said Peter Martin, Wood Mackenzie’s head of economics. “The longer disruption persists, the greater the impact on energy prices, industrial activity, trade flows and global economic growth.
New UAE Pipeline Bypassing Hormuz Now 50% Complete, ADNOC CEO Says
FILE PHOTO: People walk past a logo of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) during the annual energy industry event Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, November 3, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky/File Photo
New UAE Pipeline Bypassing Hormuz Now 50% Complete, ADNOC CEO Says
Reuters
Total Views: 6357
May 20, 2026
By Yousef Saba and Ahmad Ghaddar
DUBAI, May 20 (Reuters) – A new crude oil pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz and which the United Arab Emirates began building last year is now 50% complete, the CEO of state oil giant ADNOC, Sultan Al Jaber, said on Wednesday.
Iran has largely kept the waterway critical for global oil and gas supplies shut to all ships apart from its own since the
U.S.-Israeli strikes
in February, sending energy prices and inflation surging, fanning fears of an economic downturn.
The Abu Dhabi Media Office
publicly revealed
the project’s existence for the first time last week, saying the UA
Hormuz Becomes a Holding Queue: Iran’s Toll Regime, Bilateral Carve-Outs, and a Bifurcating Strait
Hormuz Becomes a Holding Queue: Iran’s Toll Regime, Bilateral Carve-Outs, and a Bifurcating Strait
in
International Shipping News
21/05/2026
A
t a Glance
Iran is moving to formalize a state-administered transit-toll regime under the new Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), with reported per-transit payments of up to $2 million settled in Chinese yuan and Bitcoin transfers to IRGC-linked wallets.
Six India-flagged vessels transited inbound on May 18 as a coordinated cluster following bilateral engagement with Iran, indicating functional safe-passage arrangements outside the coalition framework.
Two near-simultaneous vessel seizures off Fujairah on May 14 followed Iranian warnings to the UAE by 8 to 12 hours, with HUI CHUAN and EDRIS both boarded in the same operational window.
Three IRGC-linked high-speed craft were observed at the stern of the previously struck VLCC BARAKAH on May 15, with the vessel still stationary in the central Strait corridor through May 18.
IRGC small-craft post
US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Warns of China Role in Argentina Contract Bid
Ships are moored at a port on the Parana River in Santa Fe, Argentina, December 21, 2020. REUTERS/Stringer
US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Warns of China Role in Argentina Contract Bid
Reuters
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May 21, 2026
BUENOS AIRES, May 21 (Reuters) – U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Secretary of State Marco Rubio of “Chinese malign influence” in a bid for a major contract in
Argentina
, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
The April 23 letter concerns an auction for a 25-year contract to dredge and operate Argentina’s Parana River, a vital waterway for most of the country’s agricultural exports, that Argentina estimates will reach $10 billion in investment.
The terms of the tender, which is in its final phase with a decision expected in the coming days, explicitly barred state-owned companies, preventing bids from Chinese firms.
But Mast alleged that China was attempting “to circumvent that choice through a private sector proxy.” There is “serious concer
Drewry: Container Spot Rates Continue Climb as Early Peak Season Gains Momentum
Stock Photo: Shutterstock/Avigator Fortuner
Drewry: Container Spot Rates Continue Climb as Early Peak Season Gains Momentum
Mike Schuler
Total Views: 0
May 21, 2026
Container freight rates
continued their upward march this week as carriers pushed ahead with higher pricing on major East-West trade lanes amid signs that the traditional peak shipping season is arriving earlier than usual.
According to the latest data from shipping consultancy
Drewry
, the Drewry World Container Index (WCI) rose 6% this week to $2,712 per 40-foot container, marking the third consecutive weekly increase in May.
The sharpest gains came on the Asia-Europe trade lane, where tightening capacity and rising Freight All Kinds (FAK) rates fueled a surge in spot pricing.
Freight rates from Shanghai to Rotterdam jumped 15% to $2,773 per FEU, while Shanghai-to-Genoa rates climbed 10% to $4,082 per FEU.
Drewry said only three blank sailings are currently scheduled on the Asia-Europe route for next week, signaling that
Media Release “First dedicated STS standard for dry bulk released by INTERCARGO as operations increase”
Media Release “First dedicated STS standard for dry bulk released by INTERCARGO as operations increase”
in
Dry Bulk Market
,
International Shipping News
21/05/2026
S
hip to ship (STS) transfers are an established part of dry bulk operations, and they are growing. As new trading areas and cargo flows emerge, STS operations are expanding into regions where port infrastructure or draft limitations make direct berth access impossible. However, the sector has been doing this without a dedicated standard.
In tanker shipping, STS activity is underpinned by established industry guidance.
HMS Dragon Transits Suez Canal Ahead of Potential Hormuz Security Mission
The Royal Navy’s HMS Dragon conducts a southbound transit of the Suez Canal ahead of operations in the Middle East, May 9, 2026. UK MOD © Crown copyright 2026
HMS Dragon Transits Suez Canal Ahead of Potential Hormuz Security Mission
Mike Schuler
Total Views: 6178
May 19, 2026
Royal Navy destroyer
HMS Dragon
has transited the Suez Canal and entered the Middle East ahead of a potential multinational mission aimed at reopening and securing the
Strait of Hormuz
, as Western nations accelerate military planning around the still-constrained waterway.
The deployment places the British Type 45 destroyer in position to support a future coalition operation focused on safeguarding commercial shipping and restoring freedom of navigation once conditions allow. British officials said the mission remains “strictly defensive” and would only move forward following a sustainable ceasefire.
HMS Dragon
left the UK in March
and previously operated in the Eastern Mediterranean before shifting east toward th
Iran and Oman Discuss Hormuz Toll Regime as Rubio Warns ‘It Can’t Happen’
An LPG gas tanker at anchor as traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Shinas, Oman, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Iran and Oman Discuss Hormuz Toll Regime as Rubio Warns ‘It Can’t Happen’
Bloomberg
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May 21, 2026
By Samy Adghirni, Flavia Krause-Jackson and Alan Katz (Bloomberg) — Iran is discussing with Oman how to set up some form of a permanent toll system that will formalize its control of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Iran and Oman must mobilize all their resources both to provide security services and to manage navigation in the most appropriate manner,” the Iranian ambassador to France, Mohammad Amin-Nejad, said in an interview with Bloomberg in Paris on Wednesday.
“This will entail costs, and it goes without saying that those who wish to benefit from this traffic must also pay their share,” he said in Farsi, through an interpreter, adding that the system will be transparent. “And if today ther
Iran Draws New Maritime ‘Oversight Zone’ Across Strait of Hormuz
The crude oil tanker Odessa, carrying UAE crude after passing through the Strait of Hormuz with its Automatic Identification System transponder turned off, navigates the waters at Daesan port, where it is expected to discharge crude oil, in Seosan, South Korea, May 8, 2026. REUTERS/Kim Soo-hyeon
Iran Draws New Maritime ‘Oversight Zone’ Across Strait of Hormuz
Mike Schuler
Total Views: 3163
May 20, 2026
Iran’s self-declared Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) has published what appears to be the clearest geographic definition yet of the maritime zone it claims authority over in the
Strait of Hormuz
, escalating Tehran’s effort to formalize a permission-based transit regime through one of the world’s most critical shipping chokepoints.
In a new post on X, the PGSA said the Islamic Republic of Iran has defined the boundaries of its “Strait of Hormuz management supervision area” as extending from “the line connecting Kuh Mobarak in Iran and the south of Fujairah in the UAE in the east of