Sailors are paid $25,000 a trip to run the gauntlet as Gulf oil flows hit 81% of pre-war rate

From the Newshound archive · first published 6 October 2026.

Crude exports through the Strait of Hormuz reached 16.5 million barrels per day in September, surging from lows of just 5 million barrels a day in March when the Iran war broke out. Producers are paying sailors up to two or three times their typical monthly salary to run shuttle runs through a strait where nine commercial vessels were attacked in the past fortnight alone. Brent crude slipped 1.5% to $100.74 a barrel on Monday as markets weighed the rising supply against continued danger.

One seafarer has died and two were injured in the past two weeks as drone and missile strikes near the strait have grown increasingly frequent.

Producers are swallowing costs exceeding $40 million per voyage, preferring thin margins to leaving oil trapped inside the Gulf.

Daily rates for an oil supertanker bound for China topped $1.2 million in late September, a record driven by the war premium.