Strait of Hormuz standoff leaves 20,000 seafarers stranded on cargo ships

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Around 20,000 seafarers on hundreds of vessels, including oil and gas tankers and cargo ships, have been stuck in the Gulf, unable to cross the Strait of Hormuz, according to the latest data.

Normally about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas transits the waterway.

Roughly 80 vessels passed through the strait in the week of 13-19 April, according to the maritime data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence, compared to approximately 130 or more transits per day before the war.

Dozens of ships have come under attack since the war started, and the UN said at least 10 seafarers were killed.

Despite US President Donald Trump extending the ceasefire indefinitely last week, the US kept the blockade of Iranian ports in place.

In response, Iran fired on ships in the strait and seized two.

“Seafarers are the backbone of global trade, yet we are often the most affected by regional geopolitical conflicts,” said Captain Arunkumar Rajendran, who has also been stranded with his tanker crew for around eight weeks.

The International Maritime Organisation, the UN’s shipping agency, and others have called for a safe corridor for commercial vessels in the strait.

Most ships are still unable to pass through, even though Iran has said the strait is open to vessels it deems non-hostile.

Iran was said to have placed sea mines in the waterway, and Trump said last week that the US was clearing them and would “shoot and kill” boats laying ordinance in the area.

Under heightened risks of mines and attacks on ships, “there is no safe transit anywhere in the Strait of Hormuz,” said IMO Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez.

Multiple crises in recent years have left seafarers stranded at sea, including the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and attacks by Yemeni Houthi rebels on ships in the Red Sea.

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