Newsletters
All 15 Turkish-owned ships that had been stranded in the Persian Gulf have safely left the Strait of Hormuz, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu announced Friday, adding that no Turkish vessel is currently seeking to leave the region.
The ships carried a total of 99 Turkish crew members, all of whom departed the area safely, Uraloglu wrote on social media. Three other Turkish-owned vessels remain in the Gulf because they are continuing commercial operations and have not requested departure, he noted.
"We will continue to closely follow the process to ensure the safety of our citizens and seafarers," Uraloglu said.
The latest departures capped Türkiye's effort to secure safe passage for merchant vessels caught in the disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
At the height of the crisis, 18 Turkish-owned vessels were operating in or around the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf, with authorities closely coordinating their movements as security conditions shifted.
Earlier this week, Uraloglu announced that 11 vessels had already safely transited the strait and exited the Gulf, leaving seven ships in the region with 177 Turkish crew members on board.
Five of those vessels had requested passage through the strategic waterway, while two energy ships continued commercial operations and did not seek to leave, he stated.
The announcement came as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) reported that about 115 vessels carrying roughly 2,500 seafarers had been evacuated from the Strait of Hormuz since Tuesday under a U.N.-backed safe-passage program.
The operation had aimed to assist more than 600 vessels and around 11,000 sailors stranded in the area.
IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez told an online press conference on Friday that the agency had temporarily suspended its broader evacuation effort after a cargo ship was attacked in the Gulf of Oman.
Even so, ship-tracking platforms showed vessels continuing to transit the strait through an alternative route that has not been approved by Iran.
Current evacuation corridors run close to the Omani and Iranian coasts instead of using the Traffic Separation Scheme, established by the IMO in 1968, because mines remain along the usual shipping lane.
Under a memorandum of understanding signed by Iran and the United States last week to end the conflict, Tehran committed to clearing the mines from the area within 30 days.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
1 min read
