More than 11,000 seafarers stuck in the Arabian Gulf will begin to exit through the Strait of Hormuz under a large-scale evacuation plan backed by Iran and the United States, the International Maritime Organization said Tuesday.
“We have secured the necessary safety guarantees and have thoroughly verified the conditions for safe navigation to support these operations,” IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said in a statement.
The operation will be carried out “in close cooperation with Iran, Oman, all other coastal States in the region, the United States and the maritime industry,” Dominguez said.
Oman’s Navy issued a bulletin saying ships will exit in a phased approach through two temporary maritime corridors to ensure the safety of seafarers.
Shipping lanes under the prewar Traffic Separation Scheme, or TSS, are not safe for use right now, according to the bulletin. Iran has mined large segments of Hormuz, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Congress June 2.
Vessels can exit the strait through a route south and a route north of the TSS, the bulletin said. Ships will be individually contacted with departure instructions and their transit day, it said.
The evacuation plan comes nearly a week after Iran and the U.S. signed a memorandum of understanding to reopen Hormuz. Ship traffic has increased since the MOU was signed, but remains way below prewar levels.
Transits tripled to 93 vessels the weekend of June 19 to 21 compared to 32 between June 12 to 14, according to Kpler’s ship-tracking service MarineTraffic. At least 39 ships crossed the strait on Monday, according to data shared by Kpler. About 150 transited each day before the war.
Hormuz is crucial to global energy markets, with about 20% of oil supplies passing through the strait before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Tanker traffic collapsed after Iran retaliated by attacking commercials ships, triggering the largest oil supply disruption in history.
