Ship captains and crews crossing Hormuz earn so much they're 'almost being viewed as mercenaries'

The high-risk, high-reward business of moving oil through the Strait of Hormuz has gotten riskier and more rewarding.

Despite steady attacks from Iran, oil tankers and other commercial vessels have continued flowing through the narrow waterway. With protection from the U.S. military and help from pipelines bypassing the strait, Persian Gulf oil flows returned to prewar levels .

But seeking to reassert its leverage over the global oil chokepoint, Iran has stepped up drone and missile strikes on ships recently, including those outside the immediate vicinity of Hormuz.

While traffic has dipped in response, ships continue to cross, with many making shuttle runs in and out of the Gulf to unload oil cargoes via ship-to-ship transfers. Then other vessels deliver the barrels to customers.