My gut feel is that there would be significant positioning of naval assets before the flag goes up. What are the navies of the world up to - anything new and unusual? Even in the 21st century, ships still need to provisioned and deployed.
......positioning of naval assets.....
Israeli subs are positioned. They have already transited Suez with much fanfare and Egyptian permission.
The Chinese tankers promised to Iran will be sacrificed and China will wash its hands of providing gasoline. There tanker was sunk by an unknown force and the risk to others is just too great
Torpedoes from submerged subs have the same anonymity as IED’s