Strait of Hormuz nearly empty as shipping crisis grows

Shipping traffic has ground to a halt in a vital oil route following attacks and new blacklist threats from Iran.

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most important water routes in the world. It is where a huge amount of the world's oil is shipped. Right now, almost nobody is using it. Traffic has slowed to a crawl. In fact, officials in Iran say only a tiny handful of ships are passing through right now. This is happening because attacks in the Middle East have become much more frequent and dangerous. It isn't just the attacks causing the problem. Iran is also threatening the companies that insure the ships and the groups that keep track of safety standards. To make things even worse, Iran has created…