Japanese shipping firms have halted operations around the Strait of Hormuz, after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran and Tehran said it had closed navigation.

Axar.az, citing Reuters, reports that some 20% of global oil passes through the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman, along with large volumes of LNG, raising expectations of a sharp jump in prices.

Nippon Yusen instructed its vessels to halt transit in the area on Saturday, a spokesperson for the company said.

A spokesperson for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said, "We are refraining from navigating through the Strait of Hormuz, and our related vessels have been instructed to remain in safe waters."

A Kawasaki Kisen spokesperson said that several of its ships currently in the Persian Gulf are on standby.

Unlike with other thoroughfares, there are no options for diverting the shipments, they said.