Strait of Hormuz Crisis Leaves 6,000 Seafarers Stranded, IMO Says
Six months into the Middle East conflict, up to 400 ships carrying around 6,000 seafarers remain unable to leave the Persian Gulf safely, the International Maritime Organization said Friday, August 28, 2026.
The IMO said at least 70 attacks on international shipping had been verified since the conflict began on February 28. Its assessment said 19 seafarers had been killed.
The figures describe more than a shipping delay. Crews remain exposed to danger, uncertainty and restricted movement while authorities and commercial operators try to establish conditions for safe departure.
What the IMO confirmed
The IMO’s August 28 assessment came six months after the conflict began. Its incident log, updated through August 26, lists 70 confirmed incidents and 19 confirmed seafarer fatalities.
Recent entries include damage to METRO VENETIAN on August 24, and attacks involving MINOAN DIGNITY on August 17 and RIYAN STAR on August 15. The incident log records one seafarer fatality in each of the latter two incidents.
These are verified totals recorded by the IMO, not necessarily a complete accounting of every harm connected to the conflict. The same incident log also separately records a shipyard-worker death in an incident involving STENA IMPERATIVE.
A humanitarian crisis at sea
For a stranded vessel, the problem is not simply that cargo is waiting at the wrong port. A ship cannot resume a normal voyage when its crew cannot be assured a safe route through waters threatened by attacks.
The IMO says thousands of seafarers continue to live and work under heightened risk and uncertainty. Its wider regional information page says around 20,000 seafarers, port workers and offshore crews are affected by the instability.
An IMO evacuation framework was created to help ships confined in the Gulf leave safely. The plan is currently paused. Before the pause, 136 vessels had been evacuated, carrying an estimated 2,900 seafarers.
Why the Strait matters beyond the Gulf
The Strait of Hormuz is a critical passage at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Before the conflict, about one-fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed through the waterway, according to Associated Press reporting.
The disruption therefore affects more than ship operators and crews. The IMO says fuel, fertilizer and other commodity supply chains are being affected worldwide. Changes in shipping routes and energy flows can also affect energy security, freight costs and the availability of industrial and agricultural inputs.
That does not mean every household will see an immediate or identical price increase. The practical effects depend on how long shipping remains restricted, how much cargo can move through alternate routes and whether energy and commodity supplies recover.
Why normal navigation has not returned
The IMO Council reaffirmed in July that the right of transit passage through international straits must not be threatened, impeded, denied, hampered, impaired or suspended. It called for a coordinated and sustainable return to unhindered navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
Associated Press reported that a senior U.S. military commander said international shipping lanes had been cleared of mines. AP said the claim could not be independently verified. It also reported that drones, missiles and boats remained additional threats even if mines had been removed.
As a result, the demining statement does not establish that commercial navigation has returned to normal. The IMO continues to describe the situation as unresolved, and its evacuation plan remains paused.
What to watch next
The clearest indicators will be whether attacks stop, whether safe corridors or evacuation arrangements restart, and whether shipping and energy flows recover. Those developments will help determine how long crews remain trapped and how deeply the disruption reaches fuel, freight, fertilizer and food-supply systems.
For now, the immediate human consequence is concentrated aboard the vessels themselves: thousands of commercial mariners remain in a conflict-affected region because a safe route home cannot yet be assured. Restoring freedom of navigation will require coordinated political and maritime action, not only a claim that one category of threat has been removed.
Sources
- International Maritime Organization — Middle East: Highlighted confirmed incidents
- Associated Press — The Latest: Iran war reaches its six-month mark as Trump shifts focus
Look for updates to this story
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