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Around 1,500 ships and their crews are trapped in the Gulf because of the Iranian blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, the head of the U.N.’s International Maritime Organization said Thursday.
IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said about 20,000 crew members were stranded along with the vessels, describing them as people caught in a geopolitical crisis beyond their control.
“Right now, we have approximately 20,000 crewmen and around 1,500 ships trapped,” Dominguez told the Maritime Convention of the Americas in Panama.
Dominguez said maritime shipping carries more than 80% of the products consumed worldwide.
He said the trapped crew members were “innocent people who are doing their jobs every day for the benefit of other countries,” but were “trapped by geopolitical situations outside their control.”
The war in the Middle East, which began Feb. 28 when Israel and the United States attacked Iran, triggered reprisals by Tehran across the region and a shipping blockade in Hormuz, a key global trade route.
Before the conflict began, one-fifth of the world’s petroleum and gas passed through the Strait of Hormuz.
The closure of the strait has caused a significant global increase in hydrocarbon prices.
On Monday, U.S. 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 afterward.
Washington is now waiting for Iran’s response to proposals aimed at ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
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