Mar 19, 2026
3 min read
Analysis of d'Amico, the main Italian shipowner in the transport of goods: "With the crisis, costs are rising, even in the United States. China is squeezing the market by stopping the export of refined products"
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Na Francesco Bertolino
Analysis by d'Amico, the main Italian cargo shipowner: “With the crisis, costs are rising even in the United States.China is displacing the market by stopping exports of refined products.
The Strait of Hormuz remains a major world energy bottleneck and, even without a complete shutdown of traffic, the conflict in the Middle East is already having serious effects on insurance, logistics, fuel and supplies.Paolo D'Amico, the owner of the Panorama ship, has drawn, according to whom the issue is not only military, but also commercial: once the most intense phase of hostilities is over, then, as declared by the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi, "it will be necessary to rewrite the rules of the Strait."
The point is that the scenario has changed a lot compared to the past."Once there were no drones. Today they are very effective, they are very cheap, they are used in groups for attacks and, as we have seen, only one part is needed to hit vulnerable targets."In his view, this is an innovation that makes the safety of shipping and commercial trains in the region more vulnerable.Unequal systems.” And in the absence of fully shared political will, the international concept of military defense is not enough.
Francesco Bertolino
In his analysis, the military apparatus and the threat to freedom of navigation also assume a clear negotiating function."The strait has become a weapon of pressure," he sums up.But, he adds, even at this stage the traffic is not completely stopped.traffic".
However, this does not equate to a return to normalcy.d'Amico invites us to look above all at the dangers that may exist even after a possible cease-fire."Mines have been talked about: we have to see under what conditions this water will be released," he warns.The problem is that widespread bombs or threats don't "see the ship" and therefore make travel unsafe for everyone, regardless of flag or cargo.
The shipowner believes that it is unlikely that the situation can quickly freeze into a stable competition.business.The cost of the insurance policy, d'Amico explained, is transferred based on the shipment.metal".
di Federico Fubini
Hence the risk of inflation, especially for fuel. "Finally the price at the petrol station will be seen again: two euros per liter, whether petrol or diesel, is very real", the ship owner thought. The case for diesel is very simple, when Europe is entering a period of high demand.The vulnerability of the Europeans, he said, also depends on the fact that a large part of the world's energy is focused on the Persian Gulf. In other words, the crisis in Hormuz does not only threaten oil, but above all refined products, when substitutes are scarce.
Stefanus Agnoli wrote
At the operational level, companies are already changing direction and looking for alternative supplies."Protecting our seafarers is our top priority, so we're taking cargo from other regions and returning to the routes we've used before," the ship owner explained.But changes in flow structure have immediate side effects."Ships in the Far East are short of fuel: the further east we go, the more delicate the problem becomes as the war continues.""The world is grabbing the barrels it can find. The roads are confusing," D'Amico noted.
Especially in the refined sector, the alternative poles to watch are the United States - Louisiana and Texas - West Africa, especially Nigeria, as well as Northern Europe and the Mediterranean.However, China still does not know the decision.
What further destabilizes the picture is the role of Russia, which represents an important source of supply for China, while the rest of the global market competes for increasingly scarce volumes.For d'Amico, the ultimate message is clear: "The sooner this story ends, the better for the people and the global economy."Downstream of the d'Amico Group supply chain are major oil and energy players: international companies such as Exxon, Chevron, Total, BP, Equinor.and major global traders such as Glencore, Vitol and Mercuria.It is a sign that what is happening in the Strait of Hormuz affects not only regional security, but also the balance of the entire global energy chain.
