Hormuz Rerouting Doubles Cape Traffic Without Delivering a Windfall

Over the past seven months, shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has dwindled to a trickle, with Iran effectively closing the critical maritime chokepoint ever since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks against it. Consequently, major global shipping companies rerouted their vessels via South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, with traffic around the southern tip of Africa having doubled since the war erupted in February. Unfortunately, the projected Southern African economic windfall in the form of surging demand for bunkering (fuel),…