Commercial sailing through the Strait of Hormuz has become far more deadly in the last week than it ever has been before, as tensions between Iran and the United States continue to grow, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
According to the International Maritime Organization, at least 17 sailors have been killed since the beginning of the war, with three killed and over a dozen wounded in the last week alone.
Some of the increased lethality of the attacks, the WSJ reported, was due to Iran recently switching from targeting ships with short-range projectiles, which often only damaged the ships, to cruise missiles.
"The recent US attacks on IRGC coastal targets has made it more difficult to launch drones,” Chris Long, head of intelligence at maritime security firm Neptune P2P, told the WSJ. “Cruise missiles can be launched from further inland.”
The cruise missiles, however, are less disposable and more expensive than most of Iran's weaponry, security officials stated, relying on chemicals imported from China.
Fewer vessels in Strait of Hormuz as sailors fear attacks
The heightened danger for sailors in the Strait of Hormuz led to a sharp decrease in the number of ships in the area, as well as the amount of sailors willing to risk their lives in the region.
Ship-tracking firm Kpler revealed that only eight ships passed through the strait on Thursday, of which half were Iranian. Last week, in contrast, the strait saw an average of 30 ships pass through it per day.
The Indian Directorate General of Maritime Administration advised on Wednesday that Indian sailors not be deployed on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, after several Indian fatalities.