1,600 Ships Stranded, 23,000 Sailors Trapped — Day 70 Hormuz Crisis: 'Will Take a Long Time to Reboot'

By Day 70 (May 8, 2026), approximately 1,600 ships remained stranded in and around the Strait of Hormuz, with nearly 23,000 sailors from 87 countries trapped in the Persian Gulf — one of the largest maritime hostage crises in modern history. NBC News reported that even after a potential deal is reached, the strait 'will take a long time to reboot' due to the logistics of clearing the shipping backlog, restoring insurance coverage, and restarting port operations. Hapag-Lloyd estimated the blockade was costing approximately $60 million per week in additional fuel and insurance costs alone. The UK Parliament's House of Commons Library published a research briefing on the challenges of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, reflecting the complexity of any post-deal normalization. UKMTO reported attacks on two ships on May 8. The 70-day closure of the world's most critical oil chokepoint — through which approximately 20–21 million barrels of oil pass per day in normal conditions — had cumulatively cost global economies an estimated $400+ billion in direct supply disruption.