US military escorts are urgently needed, but it’s ultimately the ship captains who decide whether to sail.
TOPSHOT - A motorboat cruises along the shore off the town of Al Jeer on the Strait of Hormuz in the northern emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, with a tanker seen in the background, on February 25, 2026. (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP via Getty Images) Photographer: FADEL SENNA/AFP