The Iran war has created a new energy-market shortage: the tankers to carry crude oil. Drone attacks that shut Saudi Arabia's bypass pipeline earlier this month have forced more crude back through the Strait of Hormuz and onto a tanker fleet already stretched thin.

The impact has spread worldwide, the WSJ's Rebecca Feng, Georgi Kantchev and Summer Said write. Longer voyages and shuttle runs around Hormuz are tying up ships and pushing the daily rate of hiring oil tankers. Fewer available tankers are slowing oil deliveries just as record shipping costs squeeze refiners' margins, threatening to keep fuel prices high even if global crude prices fall.

The sudden supply crunch among very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, has boosted the cost of hauling oil through the strait to the highest on record. Earlier this month, the cost of hiring an oil supertanker to load inside the Persian Gulf and transit the Strait of Hormuz topped $1 million a day, according to maritime-intelligence firm Windward. That works out to $26 a barrel, or roughly a quarter of the crude's value based on the current market price.

-- The Iran and Ukraine wars have cut exports from Russia and the Persian Gulf, squeezing global supplies, raising prices, and prompting calls for a ban on U.S. exports. (WSJ)

-- Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for an attack on Saudi Arabia's capital on Saturday that targeted jet-fuel storage at King Khalid International Airport. (WSJ)

-- Iran said it struck an oil tanker as it tried to pass through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday night. (Associated Press)

-- The crew of an LNG tanker heading to Europe from the U.S. reported a suspected cyberattack. (Bloomberg)

Number of the Day

2

Petabytes of data gathered each day by FedEx, which contain global supply-chain information and insights that fuel AI, CEO Raj Subramaniam tells WSJ Leadership Institute Presents: Leaders

Tech Logistics

Kuehne+Nagel struck a deal with Amazon to bolster its role in data center infrastructure and strengthen the American tech giant's customer service capabilities, the Journal's Aimee Looks reports.

The Swiss logistics company said that the long-term partnership builds on an existing relationship and is designed to support future business opportunities. Under the deal, (Amazon) is granted a call option on K+N's existing shares tied to commercial milestones or services.

The call option, which Amazon can settle in cash or shares, is for up to seven years, K+N said. K+N said the partnership includes Amazon Web Services, which encompasses equipment deployment, maintenance and upgrades.

Agriculture

Florida's orange production is down 95% since the arrival of a disease called citrus greening, which causes fruit to drop before it is ripe, and leaves it tasting bitter. Last year, 60,000 orange acres went out of production-26% of Florida's remaining total.

Now, scientists may have found the solution to this crisis, Julie Wernau writes for WSJ. This year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved two technologies: One creates disease-resistant trees through Crispr gene editing. The other puts a harmless virus into trees to help them resist the citrus greening.

Growers have ordered hundreds of thousands of resistant trees for planting in the spring, with about a million in production. It will be two years before the first oranges are ready for juice. The question is whether the industry can hang on that long, after losing more than half its workforce between 2003-04 and 2020-21, according to University of Florida studies.

"I've seen millions of trees come through here, and every one has more or less perished."Gary Farmer, head grafter at Agromillora Nurseries

In Other News

-- U.S. industrial production was unchanged between August and July, according to Federal Reserve data. (WSJ)

-- The Conference Board's Leading Economic Index for the U.S. fell by 0.1% in August to 99.5, marking its first monthly decline since March. (WSJ)

-- A coalition of auto-industry groups urged President Trump to keep Chinese cars out of the U.S. ahead of his meeting with leader Xi Jinping. (WSJ)

-- Canada's industry minister said Stellantis must reopen its idle Brampton plant or repay hundreds of millions of dollars in government funds. (WSJ)

-- Boeing and NASA are in talks about using the Starliner vehicle to handle 10 or more new missions to low-Earth orbit. (WSJ)

-- Russia unexpectedly seized Nestlé's operations in the country, and a presidential decree targeted the Russian businesses of French retailers Auchan and Leroy Merlin. (WSJ)

-- Volkswagen slashed its full-year profit forecast after flagging roughly $11.5 billion of impairment charges linked to its Porsche stake, tough conditions in China and its restructuring efforts. (WSJ)

-- Volvo Cars named Klaus Zellmer as its next CEO, poaching one of Volkswagen Group's top-performing brand chiefs. (WSJ)

-- Joby Aviation said an aircraft equipped with its technology has completed the first fully autonomous flight 3,199 miles across the U.S. (WSJ)

-- Uber was ordered to pay $40 million to the parents of a 23-year-old woman who was hit and killed on a freeway. (WSJ)

-- Customs and Border Protection purged importers of record that provided insufficient or inaccurate information. (Journal of Commerce)

-- FedEx launched a service requiring recipients to show a secure QR code before high-value or sensitive deliveries are released, aiming to reduce fraud and theft. (SupplyChain24/7)

-- Private-equity firm EQT Real Estate said it acquired 32 buildings totaling 5.2 million square feet in Southern California from Rexford Industrial Realty. (DC Velocity)

-- Hidalgo, Texas-based trucking company Xoco Transport filed for bankruptcy protection, but said it was still operating. (TruckingDive)

About Us

Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at mark.long@wsj.com. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long, Liz Young and Paul Berger.

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.