Tanker insurance costs rise up to tenfold amid Strait of Hormuz insecurity

Mehr News Agency reported on Tuesday, 6 Mordad 1405 (28 July 2026), citing OilPrice, that more than 150 days into the regional military conflict, insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz has pushed insurance costs for tankers and commercial vessels up to ten times higher than before the crisis.

According to the report, tanker premiums were normally around 0.25 percent of a vessel's total value, but that figure has now reached 3 to 10 percent. Insurance on a 100 million dollar tanker has therefore risen from 250,000 dollars to between 3 and 10 million dollars, while for 250 million dollar tankers it has jumped from 625,000 dollars to between 7.5 and 25 million dollars.

Some tanker owners are also demanding separate payments described as a risk fee to accept voyages to the Persian Gulf, adding hundreds of thousands to several million dollars per trip. Tanker charter rates on the main Persian Gulf routes have roughly doubled as the number of active vessels has fallen and waiting times have lengthened.