Crawford & Company has released two detailed technical bulletins examining the policy implications of the Gulf conflict and the associated marine insurance and claims impacts, as heightened geopolitical tensions reshape risk for shipowners and their insurers.
The publications look at how the deteriorating security situation in and around the Strait of Hormuz is feeding through into coverage, liability and claims handling at a time when the Gulf has become a focal point of the conflict with Iran. The strait typically carries around a fifth of global seaborne crude and liquefied natural gas exports, making it one of the world's most strategically important – and exposed – maritime chokepoints.
Beyond immediate policy and coverage considerations, conditions in the Gulf are translating into a more acute environmental and pollution liability risk for the maritime sector.
Escalating attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding Gulf waters are materially increasing environmental and pollution liability exposures for shipowners and the marine insurance market. Incidents involving tankers, tugs and containerships heighten the risk of oil spills, hazardous material releases and long-term ecological damage, driving greater claim severity and regulatory scrutiny.
Recent events in adjacent conflict zones underline the scale of potential loss.
In the Red Sea, Houthi attacks have sunk or severely damaged multiple commercial vessels since late 2023, with the bulk carrier Rubymar creating a 29km oil slick after being struck by a missile and the tanker Sounion spilling burning crude oil into the sea – both incidents flagged by European and regional authorities as serious environmental threats. For marine and P&I underwriters, those cases offer a live benchmark for what a major pollution event in the Gulf could look like.
Environmental risk exposure in the current Gulf conflict is being compounded by vessel congestion across the region, as tankers and gas carriers loiter in safer waters while operators reassess transits. This is coupled with strict liability regimes under international pollution conventions and the increasing complexity of salvage and wreck removal operations in hostile operating conditions.
Under the 1992 Civil Liability Convention and related international regimes, registered tanker owners face strict liability for pollution damage from persistent oil, backed by compulsory insurance and the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds where limits are exceeded or cover is unavailable. That structure means that, even where damage results from hostile acts beyond an owner’s control, pollution liabilities can be triggered automatically, placing immediate financial responsibility on shipowners and their insurers and potentially exposing P&I clubs to large, multi-jurisdictional claims.
The Gulf conflict is also reshaping war-risk pricing and capacity.
The London market had already increased war-risk premiums sharply in the Red Sea corridor after the Houthi attacks, with additional rates for some transits reported rising from around 0.1% of hull value to between 0.7% and 1% during 2024–2025, and volatility remaining elevated into 2026.
A similar pattern is now emerging around the Strait of Hormuz. Analysts noted that ship insurance surcharges for the strait have risen from about 0.125% to between 0.2% and 0.4% of hull value per transit as the conflict has intensified, with some maritime insurers cancelling war-risk cover for voyages into the wider Gulf amid mounting attacks and mine threats.
That combination of more frequent security incidents, strict environmental liability and constrained war-risk appetite is feeding through into tougher terms, closer scrutiny of routing and ownership structures, and more complex reinsurance and aggregation considerations.
Andrew Bart (pictured), CEO of Crawford International Operations, said what is currently happening in the Gulf underlines the importance of strategic risk management.
"Geopolitical instability is giving rise to interconnected exposures that require a more holistic approach to risk assessment, policy response and claims strategy," he said. "For insurers and insureds alike, managing this risk exposure effectively is becoming central to long-term resilience in the region."
Market commentators also point out that the Gulf conflict is not only a marine issue but also interacts with energy, political risk and trade credit lines. Several major P&I clubs and war-risk providers have issued circulars tightening notification requirements and voyage underwriting for vessels linked to sanctioned entities or high-risk trades.
“The current Middle East situation is creating a complex and fast-moving risk landscape across multiple lines of insurance,” said Vic Noble, regional director, United Arab Emirates. “Our recent technical updates highlight how geopolitical instability, sanctions, supply-chain disruption and heightened security risks are converging to create new claims and coverage challenges. From a regional perspective, insurers and insureds need to be prepared for greater policy scrutiny, more complex loss scenarios and an increased need for specialist, on-the-ground support.”
Crawford’s latest bulletins underline the need to align marine, war, environmental and political risk strategies more closely, and to ensure that wordings, limits, aggregation controls and crisis response plans are calibrated for the current Middle East situation where casualties are increasingly likely to carry both geopolitical and environmental dimensions.
