The Strait

Eleven Days at Anchor in a Closed Sea

By: William Ferrier Jr.

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

When the Strait of Hormuz closes, most captains leave.

Captain Rodrigo Delgado does not leave. He has 1.9 million barrels of crude and a schedule to keep — and the schedule is the only thing holding his life in a shape he can recognize. His wife died three years ago while he was at sea. He was twelve days from port. He did not turn back. His daughter has not spoken to him since.

Now the war burns around him. A Greek tanker catches fire two miles to his northeast. A drone circles the ship for forty-two minutes. Ships empty from the anchorage one by one. Eleven days. One anchor. The strait that will not open.

Rody watches. He counts ships. He crosses out the ETA and writes it again. He has been doing this since March 2023.

The Strait is quiet, precise, and ruthless about what it leaves unsaid. For readers of The Old Man and the Sea and Phil Klay's Redeployment.

The action is inside.