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Straits

Press kit

For reporters, analysts, and editors.

Straits is a free, independent live tracker of the Strait of Hormuz crisis. The dashboard, summary JSON API, CSV downloads, RSS feed, and embed widget are all free to use, free to query, and free to publish: no signup, no key, generous rate limits. Use anything on this page on deadline. A separate machine-payable premium tier for AI agents and pipelines adds deeper history and per-vessel intelligence, documented at /api under Premium.

Prices refresh every ten minutes while futures trade. The IMF PortWatch transit count publishes weekly and is re-checked every 20 minutes from 11:07 to 18:47 UTC and at 00, 03 and 21 UTC. Live feeds carry a verified timestamp you can cite. Hand-kept sections (insurance, carriers, pipelines, trade impact) also carry an authored date, the day the figure was last written. When you embed a widget, that live timestamp travels with it, so readers always see how fresh the number is.

Using our data or figures? Please credit Straits and link to straits.live. It helps other newsrooms and researchers find the source.

Lift-ready ledes

Three lengths, all generated from the live snapshot. Cite as Straits, straits.live with the UTC timestamp from /status.

One-liner

Day 258 of effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Medium

Day 258 of effective closure. Brent at $95.84 (futures markets closed). War-risk insurance at 32.0× normal as of 7 Oct. 1 of 9 top container carriers have a Hormuz advisory from the last 60 days saying they've stopped using the strait.

Long, with context

Day 258 of the Strait of Hormuz crisis, which began when Iran closed the strait following US-Israeli airstrikes on February 28, 2026. Brent crude trading at $95.84, with futures markets closed. War-risk insurance premiums for VLCC transit ran at roughly 32.0× peacetime baseline as of 7 Oct. 1 of the 9 largest global container carriers say, in an advisory from the last 60 days, that they have stopped using the strait.

Where to find the data.

API catalogue

straits.live/api

Every public endpoint with cadence, query params, and source. Start here.

JSON snapshot

straits.live/status

All live indicators in one bundle. CORS open. Recommended for newsroom integrations.

CSV downloads

straits.live/data

Daily transits, Hormuz Index history, oil prices, and events as machine-readable CSV with per-file licensing. Drop into a spreadsheet or notebook.

RSS feed

straits.live/feed.xml

Indexed events as RSS 2.0. Reeder, Feedly, NewsBlur, or any newsroom RSS pipeline.

Embed badge

straits.live/embed

Copy-paste iframe with a live status badge for any article.

Methodology

straits.live/methodology

Per-indicator sourcing, cadence, and limitations. Read this before quoting numbers.

How to cite.

In prose: Straits, straits.live with the verified UTC timestamp visible on the live page, or the .dataHealth.<source>.verifiedAt field on /status for live feeds.

Hand-kept sections (insurance, carriers, pipelines, trade impact) also carry authoredAt, the date the figure was last written. Cite that date for them, not verifiedAt.

In event tables: include the source_name and source_url columns from events.csv, which names the originating outlet on every row. Transit counts come from IMF PortWatch, so cite IMF PortWatch for those.

No embargo on figures from any public endpoint. Quote them the moment they appear.

For a single-page snapshot suitable for citation, /report is a print-styled situation report regenerated against the live snapshot. Cmd+P → Save as PDF.

Editorial contact.

Question, correction, or interview request: hello@straits.live. Press inquiries are prioritized; expect a reply the same day during active crisis windows.

Status updates and event-flips are also posted to Bluesky. X posting is paused for now.

Cited in.

3 mentions

  1. 20 May 2026

    Middle East Conflict Disruption Updates & Situation Report – May 20, 2026

    Cited live transit data (1–4 vessels/day against the ~60 AIS baseline the site displayed at the time; the PortWatch baseline is now ~85/day) alongside Kpler and CNN

    Global Cold Chain Alliance

  2. 20 May 2026

    UK cede en sanciones rusas mientras Ormuz cumple 83 días cerrado

    Primary real-time transit source; three placements incl. tracked ref=nexo.la link

    Nexo

  3. 15 May 2026

    Oil rises as fears of ship attacks and seizures persist

    Cited live transit and supply-loss figures in Key Takeaways

    Global Banking & Finance Review

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