Ships are treading warily through the Gulf today, with sky-high tanker rates, as a brief truce between warring factions Israel and Iran looks to have fallen apart.
Shortly after midnight, US president Donald Trump announced that Israel and Iran had agreed to a ceasefire, claiming an end to what he described as the 12-day war. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the ceasefire would be “complete and total” and phased in over 24 hours. Iranian state television later confirmed the ceasefire, several hours after Trump’s announcement. According to the Jerusalem Post, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Tuesday morning that Israel had accepted Trump’s proposed ceasefire with oil prices dropping in early trading.
Israel’s defence minister accused Iran of violating the ceasefire, with the nation intercepting a missile and ordering “powerful strikes” on Tehran.
Iranian state media denied reports that it fired a missile at Israel after the ceasefire began.
“While talk of a ceasefire is cautiously optimistic, the situation in the region remains highly fragile with the next 24 hours critical to whether both sides enact and uphold de-escalation,” stated an update from maritime security specialists Vanguard.
Whether the ceasefire holds will dictate where tanker rates head from here, with one Minerva Marine VLCC, Zouvra, making headlines yesterday for being fixed on subjects at a time-charter equivalent rate of $107,000 a day.