The cost to deliver commodities is set to rise as additional war risk premia on merchant ships in the Middle East has shot up significantly this week, while security concerns are prompting some shipowners to temporarily steer clear of the Persian Gulf, market participants said Wednesday. At least two airbases housing US troops in Iraq have been hit by more than a dozen ballistic missiles, according to the US Department of Defense. This is in response to last week’s killing of an Iranian general in Iraq by US drones. Some of the owners are not prepared for their ships to dock at ports in the Persian Gulf, while others are adopting a “wait and watch” attitude, several sources in London, Dubai, Singapore, Seoul and Tokyo said. A case in point is Brazil’s Petrobras, which according […]