IMO says 6,000 seafarers stranded as Hormuz crisis hits six months

The International Maritime Organization marked a grim milestone this week, reporting that approximately 6,000 seafarers aboard as many as 400 ships remain unable to leave the Persian Gulf safely, six months after conflict between the United States and Iran shut down one of the world's most important shipping lanes.

The IMO has verified 70 attacks on international shipping since the conflict began on February 28, with 19 seafarers killed as of August 26. The crisis deepened further when a tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on August 25, causing a fire that the crew managed to extinguish. The UK Maritime Trade Operations center confirmed all crew were safe and no environmental damage was reported.middleeastmonitor+4

IMO Demands Renewed Cooperation

IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez called on governments and the shipping industry to advance practical solutions to restore freedom of navigation. "Renewed political will and cooperation is needed to deliver on this commitment," Dominguez said in a statement released August 28.breakbulk+1

The IMO Council adopted a resolution in July reaffirming that the right of transit passage through straits used for international navigation "must not be threatened, impeded, denied, hampered, impaired or suspended". But ship operators still lack reliable security arrangements, access to supplies, and workable crew-change procedures that would allow them to send vessels through the contested waterway.imo-newsroom.prgloo+1

Traffic Remains a Fraction of Pre-War Levels

Commercial movements through Hormuz have resumed to some extent but remain volatile. Only seven commodity vessels transited the strait on August 27, below the preceding ten-day average of 15. Shipping through the waterway has fallen by as much as 95 percent compared with pre-war levels, according to reports cited by the Middle East Monitor.middleeastmonitor+1

An earlier IMO evacuation plan managed to extract 136 vessels carrying 2,900 seafarers in late June before being suspended due to worsening security conditions. That plan remains paused.safety4sea+2

Growing Human Cost

The prolonged crisis has created shortages of provisions, delayed medical treatment, and made it difficult to arrange relief crews willing to enter a high-risk area. Dominguez noted that the deterioration in maritime security extended beyond Hormuz to the Black Sea, Red Sea, and Gulf of Aden, where merchant crews continue to bear the consequences of geopolitical conflict.breakbulk

Two additional mariners were killed in Iranian attacks in the Strait of Hormuz in the week preceding August 21, underscoring the persistent danger facing crews who remain trapped in the region.news.usni