Hundreds of oil tankers stuck in the Strait of Hormuz for months have accumulated thick layers of barnacles and marine life.
Diving teams are now charging upwards of five figures per ship to scrape off the biofouling that reduces fuel efficiency.
The cleaning is just one obstacle delaying the restart of global oil shipments through the reopened strait.
AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.
“Four months?” said Derek Hamm of Obsessive Compulsive Divers in Marathon, Florida. “Man. That’s plenty of time for a lot of gross stuff to accumulate.”
