Before the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran, about 130 cargo ships would pass through the Strait of Hormuz every day.

But according to one shipping tracker, less than half of that went through the strait all last week.

The Iran War has all but closed off a vital waterway for oil exports from the Middle East.

It is essential to the entire world economy, and it has been more or less shut down entirely.

The slowdown in the strait has already had serious economic consequences around the world.

And getting ships moving again has become a major strategic focus for the U.S.

The pressure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is intensifying, as well as the rhetoric around

it.

Some 2,000 ships wait to transport a variety of essential goods around the world.

But also at stake, are the fates of the sailors and crew trapped on those ships right now.

There are 20,000 seafarers stuck on cargo ships and oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.

Our colleague, Drew Henshaw, has been talking to some of those sailors for weeks.

Many of these are low-wage workers from some of the world's poor countries,

countries that have little, if anything, to do with this conflict.

They've kind of become collateral damage in this standoff.

Their only crime was to go work on a boat that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Drew says, for some of the people on these ships, life has become a kind of purgatory.

Many of the people on these ships, life has become a kind of purgatory. Many of them are effectively pinned in.

They were meant to leave the Persian Gulf weeks or months ago and can't leave.

And now they've been running out of food, water, basic provisions, even as they sit on ships that are loaded with millions and millions of dollars worth of cargo.

Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power.

I'm Jessica Mendoza. It's Tuesday, May 19th.

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