Following weeks of gradually escalating Iranian attacks and US retaliations – which started soon after the sides signed the Memorandum of Understanding meant to reopen the Strait of Hormuz – the status of the key waterway has returned about to where it was before the ceasefire. Iran asserts that the strait is closed to vessels that do not obtain Iranian permission to pass and that seek to transit via lanes other than its northern channel – and is striking vessels that do not adhere to these terms. The US will soon resume the blockade of Iran-linked ships that it removed a month ago, and claims the strait is open to vessels that transit through the southern lane along the coast of Oman. The new wrinkle is President Trump’s statement on social mediathat the US will take over the strait and impose a fee of “20% on all cargo shipped” to offset the associated costs to the US military – though major questions surround the feasibility of both these declarations. The ramifications for freight markets are familiar: containers trying to get in and out of the Gulf will continue relying on the longer, congested, and very expensive alternative regional ports and landbridges set up early on in the war. For the overall container market, the fragile ceasefire had led some carriers to reimplement cautious steps back toward the Red Sea. A full return would likely free up enough capacity to put downward pressure on rates globally, but recent events could mean these shifts will be reversed again. The broadest impact of the Hormuz closure however will be felt through fuel costs. The June/July increase in Hormuz traffic helped push oil prices back down to their pre-war baseline and even had some observers predicting a supply glut. Normalizing crude had also meant easing (though still elevated) bunker prices. The renewed closure has quickly pushed oil prices up 10% and back to mid-June levels, with bunker prices up 5%. Though prices in both the crude and refined markets are likely to face