UN Urges Safe Evacuation of About 6,000 Seafarers Stuck In Strait Of Hormuz

According to Lianhe Zaobao citing AFP, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk urged all sides in the Middle East conflict to help evacuate about 6,000 seafarers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz. Türk told reporters in Geneva on Friday, July 24, that the parties to the conflict should urgently act to facilitate the safe departure and disembarkation of the seafarers and ensure the delivery of critical supplies.

The United Nations News, citing the latest update from the International Maritime Organization, said attacks on vessels resumed after hostilities restarted on July 12-13, and that there were now “virtually no ships” passing through the narrow waterway. IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said he was deeply concerned about the 6,000 seafarers aboard about 500 anchored ships in the waters behind the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. He said the workers were professionally trained but unarmed, and the ships were not equipped to withstand missile and drone attacks. Dominguez also said seafarers play a crucial role in global trade, noting that without them, 90% of shipped goods would not reach their final destinations.

As tensions between Iran and the United States continue, the question of how shipping through the Strait of Hormuz will be managed remains unresolved. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council on Thursday that he regretted the escalating strikes and counterstrikes between the United States and Iran this month and warned that the situation was “spiraling out of control.”