US vows insurance, escorts as oil, gas flows disrupted
• Crisis deepens as US sub sinks Iranian warship off Sri Lanka, killing 87 • Hormuz shipping paralysed for fifth day; traffic plunges 90pc • Major shipping firms halt transits; insurers withdraw war-risk cover • Qatar halts LNG liquefaction; S. Arabia reroutes crude via Red Sea LONDON: The US Iran war widened on Wednesday after a US strike hit an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka, deepening a crisis that has paralysed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz for a fifth day and choked off vital Middle East oil and gas flows. The US submarine strike on the Iranian vessel, which killed 87 sailors, came as US President Donald Trump pledged to provide insurance and navy escorts to ships exporting oil and gas from the Middle East in a bid to contain soaring energy prices. However, the world’s top shipping companies have announced they will not send their vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and major insurers have pulled war risk coverage. The energy market intelligence firm Kpler sa...