Check the current status of the Strait of Hormuz

Hormuz Strait Monitor Skill

Fetches real-time status of the Strait of Hormuz from the Hormuz Strait Monitor dashboard API. Covers shipping transits, oil prices, stranded vessels, insurance risk, diplomatic status, global trade impact, and crisis timeline.

This skill is read-only. It fetches public dashboard data — no authentication required.

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Step 1: Fetch Dashboard Data

Use curl to fetch the dashboard API:

curl -s https://hormuzstraitmonitor.com/api/dashboard

Parse the JSON response. The API returns { "success": true, "data": { ... }, "timestamp": "..." }.

If success is false or the request fails, inform the user the monitor is temporarily unavailable and suggest checking https://hormuzstraitmonitor.com directly.

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Step 2: Identify What the User Needs

Match the user's request to the relevant data sections. If the user asks for a general status update, present all sections. If they ask about something specific, focus on the relevant section(s).

User Request	Data Section	Key Fields
General status / "is Hormuz open?"	straitStatus	status, since, description
Ship traffic / transit count	shipCount	currentTransits, last24h, normalDaily, percentOfNormal
Oil price impact	oilPrice	brentPrice, change24h, changePercent24h, sparkline
Stranded / stuck vessels	strandedVessels	total, tankers, bulk, other, changeToday
Insurance / war risk	insurance	level, warRiskPercent, normalPercent, multiplier
Cargo throughput	throughput	todayDWT, averageDWT, percentOfNormal, last7Days
Diplomatic situation	diplomacy	status, headline, parties, summary
Global trade impact	globalTradeImpact	percentOfWorldOilAtRisk, estimatedDailyCostBillions, affectedRegions, lngImpact, alternativeRoutes, supplyChainImpact
Crisis timeline / events	crisisTimeline	events[] with date, type, title, description
Tanker freight rates / VLCC rates	tankerRates	currentRate, preCrisisRate, changePercent, route, vesselType, trend, unit
Latest news	news	title, source, url, publishedAt, description

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Step 3: Present the Data

Format the results clearly for financial research. Adapt the presentation based on what the user asked for.

General status briefing (default)

When the user asks for a general update, present a concise briefing covering all key sections:

1. Strait Status — lead with the current status (e.g., "OPEN", "RESTRICTED", "CLOSED"), how long it's been in that state, and the description
2. Ship Traffic — current transits, last 24h count, and percent of normal
3. Oil Price — Brent price with 24h change
4. Stranded Vessels — total count broken down by type, with today's change
5. Insurance Risk — risk level, war risk premium percentage, and multiplier vs. normal
6. Cargo Throughput — today's DWT vs. average, percent of normal
7. Diplomatic Status — current status, headline, and brief summary
8. Global Trade Impact — percent of world oil at risk, estimated daily cost, and top affected regions
9. Tanker Freight Rates — current VLCC rate on the benchmark route vs. pre-crisis baseline, with trend direction

Formatting guidelines

• Use tables for structured data (vessel counts, affected regions, alternative routes)
• Highlight abnormal values — if percentOfNormal is below 80% or above 120%, call it out
• For oilPrice.sparkline, describe the trend (rising, falling, stable) rather than listing raw numbers
• For throughput.last7Days, describe the trend direction
• Show lastUpdated timestamp so the user knows data freshness
• For news items, include the source and link
• For crisis timeline events, present chronologically with event type labels

Risk assessment

Based on the data, provide a brief risk assessment:

Values are returned uppercase.

Insurance Level	Interpretation
NORMAL	No elevated risk — shipping operating normally
ELEVATED	Some disruption concerns — monitor closely
HIGH	Significant risk — active disruption or credible threat
CRITICAL	Severe disruption — major impact on global oil supply
EXTREME	Effective closure — war risk premiums at multi-decade highs, most commercial traffic halted

If the strait status is anything other than fully open, highlight:

• The estimated daily cost to global trade
• Which regions are most affected and their oil dependency
• Available alternative routes with additional transit days and cost
• LNG impact if applicable
• SPR (Strategic Petroleum Reserve) status in days

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Step 4: Respond to the User

• Lead with the most important information: strait status and any active disruption
• Include data freshness (lastUpdated timestamp)
• If the situation is elevated or worse, proactively include the global trade impact summary
• Keep the response concise for routine "all clear" statuses; expand for active incidents
• Add a disclaimer: data is sourced from Hormuz Strait Monitor and may have delays

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Reference Files

• references/api_schema.md — Complete API response schema with field descriptions and data types

Read the reference file when you need exact field names or data type details.