4 articles · Updated · shipmanagementinternational.com · May 29
More than 60% of global oil trade flows have dropped since the conflict escalated, and Howden Re said the disruption is now reshaping underwriting, pricing and risk appetite across marine, energy and political violence lines.
Brent crude above $100 a barrel, collapsing vessel traffic through the Strait and expanded high-risk zones have pushed up war-risk premiums, rerouting costs and uncertainty over claims development.
Extreme stress is building in marine hull war, cargo war and political violence business, with recent losses such as the Baltimore bridge disaster heightening concerns over aggregation exposure, multi-party liability and long-tail claims.
Capacity still remains available across global treaty reinsurance markets, and April 1 renewals were broadly in line with January outcomes, though reinsurers are watching for further deterioration in marine and specialty claims.
Howden Re said the shock is already feeding into commodity, energy-supply and construction inflation, while weaker OECD growth forecasts point to broader spillovers across global supply chains and other insurance lines later this year.
Can government insurance backstops defeat the weaponization of commercial maritime insurance?
Beyond oil, how will the Hormuz crisis permanently reshape global supply chains for food and technology?
Has the Hormuz crisis exposed a fatal flaw in the hyper-efficient, just-in-time global economy?
Global Economic Shock: The 2026 Strait of Hormuz Closure and Its Cascading Impact on Energy, Food, and Insurance Markets
Overview
In late February 2026, a rapidly escalating Middle East crisis led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, causing a major supply shock in global energy markets. This closure created deep uncertainty about when oil and gas deliveries would resume, with no clear path to a settlement. As a result, West Texas Intermediate oil prices surged dramatically, jumping from $60 to $98 in just one quarter, and were projected to rise even higher if the closure continued. The crisis quickly strained global reserves and triggered widespread economic and social impacts, highlighting the world's vulnerability to disruptions at critical chokepoints.