THIS IS THE WRONG QUESTION: How Quickly Can the Strait of Hormuz Get Back Up and Running?
“The backlog of stranded vessels and the need for crew changes and rest mean a realistic return to normal shipping patterns is weeks, if not months, away,” said Stephen Cotton, general secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation. He added that the deal wouldn’t be the end. “It is, at best, the beginning,” Cotton said.
Coordinating the order of transits will take time. It is unclear whether Iran would continue to control the strait, and whether tolls would be charged, analysts said.
“It’ll all come down to the actual ship count out, and then, more importantly, to what Iran actually allows,” said Rory Johnston, founder of oil research firm Commodity Context. “Even if it is over, then we’ll start the monthslong process of renormalizing traffic.”
The correct question is, how long will it take for the Arab Gulf states to make the Gulf much less relevant?
One thing that sticks with me: The Hormuz shutdown woke up the entire region to the fact that the Iranian regime is a hostage taker. The Iranian regime "broke glass in case of emergency," but now the reputational damage is permanent.
Iran's neighbors wanted a speedy end to… pic.twitter.com/4QDBj9hRIw
— Max 📟 (@MaxNordau) June 15, 2026
“Iran’s neighbors wanted a speedy end to fighting because they weren’t ready to handle the redistributed shipping load, but now they’re going to work to make sure that they’re not vulnerable to disruption in case the IRGC does this again.”