About 2,500 seafarers from 115 vessels have been evacuated from the Strait of Hormuz
About 2,500 seafarers from 115 vessels have been evacuated from the Strait of Hormuz since the International Maritime Organization (IMO) launched an evacuation operation on Tuesday, IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said on Friday. The sea is work. And risk. When mines rupture in the Strait of Hormuz — one of the world's busiest arteries of global trade — and ships become targets, thousands of people find themselves trapped between politics and survival.
Eleven thousand seafarers stranded in the conflict zone are not just a number. They are voices, families, lives waiting for diplomacy and security to find common ground. And when the IMO launches an evacuation operation, behind every vessel saved lies someone's hope of returning home.
Speaking at an online press conference, Dominguez said the preliminary figures covered the first three and a half days of the evacuation operation. On Tuesday, the IMO announced the evacuation framework, recommending the use of a northern route communicated by Iran and a southern route communicated by Oman. On Thursday, however, the UN maritime body suspended the evacuation after a vessel was attacked in the Gulf of Oman, saying it needed to further assess whether the security guarantees underpinning the operation remained in place.
According to Dominguez, the attacked vessel did not transit under the IMO's evacuation framework. Shipping data showed that some vessels continued to transit the strait after the suspension. Responding to a question, Dominguez said Iran was still maintaining operations on the northern route, while the United States continued to assist shipping on the southern route. "What is important for the vessels is to carry out the risk assessment before they make any final decision," he said, urging shipowners and operators to carefully assess the risks. He added that the IMO would only resume the evacuation operation once it had sufficient assurances that commercial vessels would not come under attack.
The Strait of Hormuz is a strategic maritime corridor connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman, through which about 20% of global oil passes. Since the conflict began on 28 February 2026, around 20,000 seafarers on approximately 500–600 vessels have been stranded in the strait and surrounding waters. The IMO developed an evacuation plan that was expected to cover more than 11,000 seafarers. Two temporary routes were established for the evacuation: a northern route through Iranian waters and a southern route through the waters of Oman and the US. According to IMO estimates, about 80 mines remain in the area, making the standard Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS), adopted by the IMO in 1968, unusable. Since the start of the conflict, 14 seafarers have died as a result of attacks on vessels.
As reported by CCTV+, the evacuation operation remains suspended, and its resumption depends on receiving sufficient security guarantees for commercial vessels.
