The big problem with Trump’s plans to open the Strait of Hormuz | CNN Business

Martín Izaguirre Salgado keeps a souvenir from his time working on a liquid petroleum gas tanker that came under fire in the Red Sea two years ago. Four missiles exploded so close to his ship that little pieces of shrapnel rained down on the deck. “I keep some of those pieces at home,” said Salgado, who has worked as a seafarer since 2021. For commercial seafarers like Salgado, there’s little President Donald Trump could say right now that would convince them to sail through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has promised to provide government-backed insurance policies and naval escorts to keep ships moving. But threats from Iran to attack any ships in the region outweigh the promises of support. “As long as they keep firing rockets or drones to merchant vessels, this unsafe feeling will remain there,” he told CNN from a tanker in the Persian Gulf. Zero tankers transited the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday, a narrow channel just off Iran’s southern coast that’s normally packed with an armada of 60 or more ships carrying 20% of the world’s oil. The Gulf today is packed with tankers and other ships unable to get out, including Salgado’s, which is anchored off the coast of Iraq