Allianz's Safety and Shipping Review 2026: $125 Billion of Ships and Cargo Trapped in the Persian Gulf and Significant Marine Claims From the Iran War

Allianz Commercial's annual Safety and Shipping Review, published in the second half of June 2026, put numbers on a disruption that insurers describe as unprecedented. Insurance Business reported on June 23 that the review estimates vessels and cargo worth about $125 billion were stranded in the Persian Gulf, and Bloomberg, in a report published on Claims Journal on June 24, said the figure applied as of June 15. Allianz Research counted about 1,150 cargo-carrying vessels, with a combined 29 million gross tonnes, and up to 20,000 seafarers waiting in Gulf waters at that date.

The Strait of Hormuz is 34 kilometres wide and normally carries 20% to 25% of world oil trade. According to the review, daily transits fell from 100 to 140 vessels to two to four. The International Maritime Organization counted 46 merchant vessels damaged as of June 11, 2026, and 14 seafarers killed as of June 12. Early in the war, Bloomberg reported, ships were attacked almost every day, and the vessels affected included container ships, bulk carriers and oil tankers hit by drones and missiles. Some vessels were paying more than $1 million per voyage to enter or exit the strait.

The claims side is where insurers are most exposed, and Allianz was candid about it. Régis Broudin, global head of marine claims at Allianz Commercial, said the insurer had received claim notifications from the conflict, "some of which are significant", including potential total losses of vessels, with more expected as cargo deteriorates. He added: "Clearly, loss of life and property damage – in terms of both vessels and their cargo – are the main causes to date." The review did not estimate the dollar value of potential losses. Cargo sitting for weeks in heat can spoil, and vessels trapped in the Gulf face disrupted maintenance and biofouling, so claims may keep arriving after the shooting stops.

Other executives set out the wider meaning. Thomas Lillelund, chief executive of Allianz Commercial, called the closure "the latest in a series of severe interruptions to hit shipowners and cargo operators." Captain Rahul Khanna, global head of marine risk consulting, said "we have to pay a price for uncertainty" and called it the first time in history that the Strait of Hormuz has been closed, noting that it stayed open even during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war. Justus Heinrich, global product leader for marine hull, said that "resilience and risk management are becoming just as important as insurance coverage." The review also described a shift in supply chains from "just-in-time" to "just-in-case" designs, and ranked geopolitics, including tariffs, regional conflict and regulation, as the top risk for shipowners and cargo operators.

One point from the review runs against the headlines: Allianz said marine insurers kept cover in place. The binding constraint, it said, was the risk to crew and vessels in the conflict zone, not insurance availability. A United States and Iran agreement was signed in mid-June 2026, but the report advised brokers not to expect a quick return to normal pricing.

Another part of the story is how governments responded when private capacity was stretched. Insurance Business reported on April 6, 2026 that the US International Development Finance Corporation and Chubb had expanded a maritime reinsurance facility for vessels operating through the Strait of Hormuz from $20 billion to $40 billion of rolling coverage. Chubb is lead underwriter and manages the facility, sets pricing and terms, assumes risk, issues policies and handles claims. The facility covers war hull risk, war protection and indemnity, and war cargo insurance for eligible vessels and cargo. Six more US insurers joined, Travelers, Liberty Mutual, Berkshire Hathaway, AIG, Starr and CNA, contributing $20 billion alongside Chubb, matching the DFC's existing commitment. Eligibility depends on a sanctions review, know-your-customer vetting and other information gathered by the DFC and its interagency partners, and applicants must provide the vessel name, flag, IMO number, cargo information and ownership records. The facility is a US government-backed arrangement, and the review's coverage does not say how much of it has been used.

The Allianz review is mainly an annual look at shipping safety, and its figures for 2025 give context to the war. Reported incidents fell about 16%, from 3,353 to 2,818. Total losses, meaning vessels lost outright, were 350 in the five years to 2025, down 37% from 555 in the previous five-year period, with 43 in 2025 alone. Machinery damage or failure caused more than half of incidents, 1,505 in all. Fires were the second-worst on record for the decade, with more than 200 on large vessels, and lithium-ion batteries were a recurring factor. The average fleet age was 23 years. The review also cited an International Union of Marine Insurance projection of average hull claim costs rising 7% to 22% over five years, made before the conflict, and a Cefor figure from April 2026 putting claims cost per vessel 33% above pre-pandemic levels. General average, the rule under which all parties to a voyage share the cost of a sacrifice made to save the ship, can reach 50% of cargo value, which could mean more than $100 million for a carrier with a few thousand electric vehicles.

For shipowners and cargo owners, the message is mixed. Cover remains available, but war-risk conditions and prices can change quickly, and the cost of delay, spoilage and trapped assets is large even when a ship is not hit. For insurers, the exposure is a combination of potential total losses, cargo claims that grow with time and the possibility that conflict re-escalates. The next numbers to watch are the quarterly results of the large marine writers and any update from Allianz on the value of claims it has received, because the review gave none.