Iranian attacks sink two ships in Strait of Hormuz

BREAKING: Iranian attacks sink two cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran steps up strikes on vessels transiting the waterway and the Houthis claim an attack on Riyadh.

Two cargo ships are now at the bottom of the Strait of Hormuz, both sunk by Iranian attacks.

The Washington Post is reporting that Iran is stepping up strikes on vessels moving through the waterway, the narrow channel that carries roughly a fifth of the world's oil. You can see just how tight that chokepoint is here.

And it isn't only the strait. The Houthis are claiming an attack on Riyadh itself, the Saudi capital, which widens this from a shipping story into a regional one. Shipowners were already nervous after the earlier sinking this week. Two more hulls down turns nervous into something closer to a stampede, insurers pulling cover, crews refusing routes, cargoes rerouting around entire coastlines.

Every barrel, every container that moves through Hormuz now does so under fire. That is the fact the whole global economy wakes up to tomorrow.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.