Strait of Hormuz ship traffic slows down. Here’s what you need to know about the oil water lock.

The US and Israel attack on Iran focus on The Strait of Hormuza small but strategically important waterway in the region that serves as the main artery for global oil shipments.

Maritime traffic at the port has fallen sharply since the war broke out last week, raising concerns that the conflict could delay oil supplies and raise electricity costs, Wall Street analysts said on Monday. The UK Maritime Trade Operations Center reported attacks on several ships in the area on both sides of the river and warned of high levels of electronic interference in shipping systems.

“Infrastructure is at risk across the region, and it’s not just at risk from intentional attacks, but from accidental attacks as well,” said Kevin Book, managing director at Clearview Energy Partners. “Shrapnel and debris from missile ranges can fall into areas and paralyze them, so there are several challenges from this type of conflict in a high-energy environment.”

Here’s what you need to know about the Strait of Hormuz.

What is the Strait of Hormuz?

An important sea corridor, located on the southern border of Iran, connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. A long and important commercial trade route, the Strait of Hormuz normally allows the flow of about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. Experts describe it as the “crushing point” of non-filtering strategies.

The Strait – which is about 100 miles long and 21 miles wide at its narrowest point – allows the world’s largest ships to transport oil and gas from the Middle East to China, Europe and the U.S. Most of that crude comes from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and Iran.

What happened in the Strait of Hormuz?

The war in Iran has brought the passage of oil tankers into crisis, with shipping giants Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd saying they were suspending all shipments this way.

As a result, oil prices have increased Monday on concerns that prolonged disruptions in crude supplies to the region could significantly increase energy costs, including US gasoline prices.

“It’s closed because nobody dares to go through,” Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, senior analyst at Global Risk Management, a provider of energy market data, told CBS News. “You can be attacked, and you can’t get insurance or it’s too expensive, so you have to wait until the security situation improves.”

“If oil and gas from the road is cut off, that has significant effects on the market,” he added. “Although there is no physical blockade, threats from the Iranians, as well as drone attacks and missiles, mean that the tanks are not going through this problem.”

The key question going forward is the length of the war and how long the crisis lasts is too dangerous to cut short, say analysts.

“If the tanker cuts continue for a week or more, it will be history. Otherwise, it will be a historic event for the oil market with prices rising to provide scarce supplies and impact financial markets,” S&P Global head of crude oil research Jim Burkhard said in a report.

How high can oil prices go if the crisis is closed?

Iran may struggle to permanently halt shipping in the Strait of Hormuz as the US and Israel downgrade their naval and other military capabilities, according to analysts. Blocking Iranian oil from being exported to overseas markets would also severely damage the company’s fragile economy, experts note.

“Iran actually has two ways to shut down the flow. One is to harass or attack ships, and the other is to lay mines,” Book of Clearview Energy told the Associated Press. “And without the navy, both of those things would be difficult.”

But a prolonged closure of the strait could cause oil prices to rise sharply, said Global Risk Management’s Rasmussen.

“So far, it’s only been a few days, but if this goes on for weeks or months, the consequences could be very severe, and we could see oil prices in the triple digits,” he told CBS News. “After that, there will be a big drag on the global economy, and it could cause a recession. So, in that sense, it’s a powerful weapon.”

Oil approaching or exceeding $100 a barrel is not a certainty. Benny Wong, senior energy analyst at Pitchbook, a provider of financial data and analysis, noted that the US currently has enough oil capacity to protect consumers from rising prices if the tanker road is closed for only a few days.

The United States today is the world’s largest oil producer and has increased its reserves, while global oil demand has been soft in recent years amid the global economic boom, he said.

Are there alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz?

Oil that used to go through the Strait of Hormuz by ship could be exported by other means.

This includes the East-West Pipeline, also known as Petroline, a nearly 750-mile-long pipeline in Saudi Arabia that brings oil to Red Sea ports. Shipments may also be routed through the Abu Dhabi crude oil pipeline, a roughly 400-mile pipeline in the United Arab Emirates that transports oil to the Gulf of Oman.

However, some such routes can only accommodate a fraction of the volume of oil that normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz every day, according to experts.

“There are no reasonable alternatives to that flow,” Wong said.