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The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has raised the alarm over the worsening maritime security situation in the Middle East, revealing that at least 70 attacks on international shipping have been verified since the conflict in the region began on February 28, with 19 seafarers killed.
The IMO also disclosed that up to 400 ships carrying about 6,000 seafarers remain unable to safely leave the Persian Gulf, six months after the conflict began.
IMO Secretary-General, Arsenio Dominguez, said the unresolved situation in the Strait of Hormuz had left thousands of seafarers living and working under heightened risk and uncertainty.
“Six months since the conflict in the Middle East began, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz is unresolved. Thousands of seafarers in the region continue to live and work under conditions of heightened risk and uncertainty,” Dominguez said.
According to him, although some ships and their crews have been able to leave the Persian Gulf, up to 400 vessels carrying approximately 6,000 seafarers have remained unable to depart safely since the conflict started.
He warned that the consequences of the crisis extend beyond the maritime sector, with disruptions to the movement of vital commodities capable of affecting economies and communities globally.
“The impacts of this crisis are grave, both in the short and long term. The disruption of vital supply chains for fuels, fertilizers and other commodities has consequences for communities and economies around the world,” he said.
Dominguez said the IMO Council had in July adopted a resolution on the protection of vital shipping lanes, reaffirming the right of transit passage through straits used for international navigation.
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The resolution, he said, reaffirmed that such passage must not be “threatened, impeded, denied, hampered, impaired or suspended” and called for a coordinated and sustainable return to unhindered navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
The IMO chief stressed that renewed political commitment and international cooperation were required to translate the resolution into concrete action.
“Renewed political will and cooperation is needed to deliver on this commitment,” Dominguez said.
He called on IMO Member States, the shipping industry and the wider United Nations system to work together towards practical measures that would restore freedom of navigation through the strategic waterway.
“I call on all Member States and the shipping industry to work together with IMO and the wider United Nations system, to advance practical solutions to restore the freedom of navigation through the Strait,” he said.
Dominguez also expressed concern over the broader deterioration of maritime security across major international shipping routes, including the Black Sea, Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
“The deterioration of maritime security around the globe – from the Black Sea to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, is detrimental to us all. But it is particularly distressing for the thousands of innocent seafarers affected,” he said.
The Strait of Hormuz is a critical global maritime chokepoint, making the continued disruption of navigation a major concern for international shipping, energy supplies and global trade.
