Iraqi Captain Navigates Risks in Gulf Amid U.S.-Iran Tensions

In the volatile maritime corridor between the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz, Iraqi Captain Rahman AlJubouri navigates his oil tanker through waters fraught with danger from the ongoing U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, where commercial vessels face attacks and disruptions that have upended global trade routes. AlJubouri, a seafarer with four decades of experience, has spent the past four months aboard the Palau-flagged Sea Moon, currently en route from the Gulf of Aden to unload oil at Yemen's Ras Isa port.

The hostilities place civilian ships directly in the path of military actions, as Iranian forces and allied groups have targeted several tankers in recent months. Intermittent threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, which handles about 20 percent of the world's oil supply, have forced vessels to delay, reroute or remain stranded in the Persian Gulf. Adding to the tension, American forces on Sunday seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship attempting to bypass a U.S. naval blockade near the strait, marking the first such interception since the blockade of Iranian ports started last week.

For AlJubouri, who began his career in 1984 amid the Iran-Iraq War and endured the 1991...