Which European countries' ships are most hit by the Hormuz crisis?

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

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In the past 48 hours, around 670 cargo ships have been tracked waiting on the western side of the strait. Of these, 120 are owned by UAE-based companies, representing roughly 18% of the total.

Ship positions are tracked using AIS or the Automatic Identification System, transponder technology required on most commercial vessels that continuously broadcasts a ship's location, speed, heading and identity to other ships and shore-based stations.

Actual numbers may be higher, as some ships may have deactivated their tracking systems.

Greece and China are heavily affected

After the UAE, Greece is the second most affected country, with Greek-owned companies operating at least 75 commodity vessels in the strait since the start of the conflict — around 12% of the total.

Approximately 30 of these are oil or gas tankers, according to an analysis of Bloomberg data, which collates information from multiple sources.

Chinese companies account for 74 commodity vessels in the area, 25 of which are oil and gas tankers, with the remainder being dry bulk carriers and container ships.

Other Asian countries have also been significantly affected. Japanese companies have at least 23 oil and gas vessels and 16 dry carriers in the strait.

Meanwhile, 25 ships linked to Hong Kong — 13 energy and 12 dry cargo vessels — are also present. India-based companies have 24 tankers in the region.

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

Grounded supertankers

Around 50 Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) appear to have been stranded, along with 11 Very Large Gas Carriers.

South Korea owns seven of these VLCCs, China and Japan six each, and Greece five.

Of the 225 crossings by commodity carriers since the start of the conflict, more than 40 were by Iranian vessels, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler.

A further 60 were made by vessels not flagged or directly owned by Iran but sanctioned by the US under its Iran programme.

Some 35 crossings have been made by Greek-owned vessels, including eight by a single company, Dynacom Tankers Management.

At least 20 Chinese-affiliated vessels and 13 Indian-linked vessels have also made the transit.

Some vessels appear to have benefited from a vetting system under which Iran grants safe passage to ships from friendly countries.

Meanwhile, hundreds of ships remain on hold as insurance costs surge and risks to crews and cargo remain extremely high.