Which EU country is hit most by the Hormuz Strait jam?

Marine transport companies from Greece, the United Arab Emirates and China are among the most affected by the closure of the Hormuz Strait, according to data from Bloomberg and maritime traffic organisations.

In the last 48 hours, about 670 cargo ships have been tracked waiting on the western side of the strait.

Of these, 120 are owned by companies with headquarters in the United Arab Emirates, representing approximately 18% of the total.

Ship positions are tracked using AIS, or Auto - Identification System, the technology needed in most commercial vessels that regularly transmit their location, speed, direction, and identity on other ships, and stations on the coast.

Real numbers may be higher, as some ships may have disabled their tracking systems, the euronews writes.

Greece, China are severely affected

After the United Arab Emirates, Greece is the second most affected country, with Greek-owned companies operating at least 75 freight vessels in the strait since the beginning of the conflict about 12% of total.

Approximately 30 of them are oil or gas tankers, according to a Bloomberg data analysis, which collects information from many sources.

Chinese companies own 74 cargo ships in the area, 25 of which are oil tanks and gas, while the rest are transporters of cash goods and container ships.

Other Asian countries have also been significantly affected.

Japanese companies have at least 23 oil and gas vessels and 16 dry transporters in the straits.

Meanwhile, 25 ships linked to Hong Kong are also present, including 13 energy ships and 12 dry cargo ships.

The India-based companies have 24 tankers in the region.

Similarly, companies from Singapore and South Korea have 29 and 22 ships blocked since the beginning of the hostilities, respectively, while Vietnam has three large LNG carriers.

Supertankers stuck

About 50 very large crude oil carriers (VLCC) appear to have remained blocked, along with 11 very large gas carriers.

South Korea owns seven of these V LCC, China and Japan out of six each, and Greece five.

Of the 225 sea crossings from cargo carriers since the beginning of the conflict, more than 40 were from Iranian ships, according to the sea intelligence company Kpler.

Another 60 were from ships that did not carry a flag or were not directly owned by Iran, but sanctioned by the US on the basis of its Iran programme.

About 35 crossings have been made by Greek-owned ships, including eight from a single company, Dinacom Tankers Management.

At least 20 ships linked to China and 13 ships linked to India have also made transit.

Some ships appear to have benefited from a verification system under which Iran provides safe passage to ships from friendly countries.

Meanwhile, hundreds of ships remain pending as security costs increase and the dangers to crews and cargo remain extremely high. /Telegraphy/