UN warns blockades in key sea lanes are turning food supply into collateral damage

The Strait of Hormuz, the Black Sea and the Bab al‑Mandab Strait have each become flashpoints in separate conflicts. In Hormuz, U.S. and Iranian forces are escorting a limited number of oil tankers, leaving commercial traffic at a very low level. In the Red Sea gateway, Houthi militants in Yemen have imposed a naval blockade on vessels linked to Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Russian and Ukrainian forces have intensified attacks on Black Sea ports and cargo ships, putting grain exports from two of the world’s largest producers at risk.

The slowdown in Hormuz and the blockade in Bab al‑Mandab affect roughly 20 % of the world’s oil supply and about 12 % of seaborne oil trade, respectively. The resulting rise in oil prices and container freight rates lifts the cost of moving food and fertilizer, commodities already under pressure. The UN Secretary‑General warned that these price pressures deepen hunger, weaken harvests and increase suffering among the most vulnerable people.

To lessen the humanitarian impact, the Secretary‑General set up a task force in March, overseen by UNOPS Executive Director Jorge Moreira da Silva. The body is intended to ensure safe, orderly and predictable maritime transit for humanitarian cargo through the Strait of Hormuz, initially focusing on commercial fertilizer and related raw materials. While described as a temporary stop‑gap, the UN stresses that full navigational rights and freedoms—guaranteed under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea—remain a legal obligation and a humanitarian imperative, even though the United States, Iran and Israel have not ratified the treaty.