The United Nations has begun evacuating stranded sailors from the Strait of Hormuz, a critical choke point for global oil shipments, as Royal Navy patrols work to secure the waterway following a series of attacks. For the thousands of seafarers caught in the crossfire, this is a respite from weeks of uncertainty and danger.
But for the families back home in Merseyside or Glasgow, the real question is not just about safety but about the price at the pump and the cost of their weekly shop. The Straits are a valve for global energy supplies; when it sputters, the pain is felt in every household.
This crisis is a stark reminder that the real economy runs on logistics. The men and women who crew these vessels are not faceless figures in a geopolitical tug-of-war. They are workers who go to sea to earn a living, often for wages that barely cover the bills. Their ordeal is a microcosm of the instability that makes a mockery of economic forecasts.
The government has mobilised the Royal Navy to escort merchant ships, a show of force that reassures the markets. But for the long haul, we need more than gunboats. We need a strategy that treats energy security as a public good, not a commodity to be gambled on.
The evacuation is a necessary humanitarian move, but it does not fix the underlying rot. Until we diversify our energy sources and invest in domestic resilience, we will remain hostage to events in a narrow stretch of water half a world away.
In the meantime, those sailors will be coming home to their families. They deserve our thanks and a stable economy that does not depend on the whims of gunboats and oil sheikhs.
