The westbound shipping lane currently ends at the relatively shallow continental shelf, where ships disperse.

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Iran has previously threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil shipping lane, over the sanctions issue.

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Talks are under way about whether to leave the wreck on the seabed, near a shipping lane, or to raise it.

BBC: Sinking vessel

Tehran threatened this year to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil shipping lane, if sanctions were imposed on its exports of crude oil.

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Because the island stretches across the primary shipping lane that was used by explorers sailing to the New World, most ships headed from Europe to North America spotted it along their long journey.

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Rampant piracy off Somalia has made the country's waters the world's most dangerous shipping lane, has secured Somali bandits tens of millions of dollars in ransoms and pushed up insurance premiums for ships.

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Those who see weaker prices next week said, while gold might be oversold in the short-term, the medium-term technical picture has turned negative and that could lead to weaker prices, even as geopolitical worries heat up, such as saber-rattling by Iran over possibly closing the Straits of Hormuz, a key shipping lane for oil transportation.

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Middleton offers five possible solutions to the piracy plague, including organizing shipping into a safe lane, providing a coast guard for Somalia, having a large international naval presence and refusing to pay ransoms.

CNN: Somali piracy threatens trade, boosts terrorists, analysts say