Martín Izaguirre Salgado keeps a souvenir from his time working on a liquid petroleum gas tanker that came under fire in the Red Sea two years ago.
Four missiles exploded so close to his ship that little pieces of shrapnel rained down on the deck.
“I keep some of those pieces at home,” said Salgado, who has worked as a seafarer since 2021.
For commercial seafarers like Salgado, there’s little President Donald Trump could say right now that would convince them to sail through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has promised to provide government-backed insurance policies and naval escorts to keep ships moving.