Around 1,500 ships and their crews are currently trapped in the Gulf due to the Iranian blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Arsenio Dominguez, secretary general of the UN’s International Maritime Organisation (IMO), speaking in Panama on Thursday.
The conflict in the Middle East, initiated by Israel and the United States against Iran on February 28, has led Tehran to impose a shipping blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global trade route.
“Right now, we have approximately 20,000 crewmen and around 1,500 ships trapped,” Dominguez told the Maritime Convention of the Americas.
The stranded crew members “are innocent people who are doing their jobs every day for the benefit of other countries,” but “are trapped by geopolitical situations outside their control,” he added.
Before the conflict’s outbreak, a fifth of the world’s total petroleum and gas passed through the Strait of Hormuz. The closure has led to a significant global surge in the price of hydrocarbons.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump announced a naval operation to escort the trapped ships and force the opening of the strait, but called off the push shortly after. Washington is now waiting for an Iranian response to proposals for ending the war and reopening the Hormuz strait.