UN maritime agency halts Hormuz evacuation plan after ship strike
The IMO paused efforts to move stranded vessels from the Gulf while it checks safety assurances after a cargo ship reported being hit near Oman.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
3 min read
The United Nations maritime agency has suspended a plan to help ships leave the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz after a cargo vessel reported an attack near Oman. The pause matters because thousands of mariners and hundreds of vessels remain affected by the strait’s closure during the US-Israeli war on Iran.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said a cargo ship reported a suspected attack on Thursday while trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz near Oman. UKMTO said the vessel reported being hit on its starboard side by a projectile about 14km, or 7.5 nautical miles, southeast of Oman’s port of Dahit.
A maritime security source told Reuters that the ship was likely struck by a drone, though the source said it was not yet clear who was responsible. Maritime security reporting identified the vessel as the Singapore-flagged container ship Ever Lovely, according to Al Jazeera.
The International Maritime Organization said the Ever Lovely was not part of its evacuation framework. IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said Thursday that the agency would temporarily stop carrying out the plan while it checks whether safety guarantees remain valid for ships on its list and for other vessels in the area.
Dominguez said the IMO had obtained safety assurances and checked navigation conditions before starting the operation. He said the suspension followed notice of the attack on a vessel that had passed through the strait.
Evacuation plan on hold
The IMO began the evacuation effort on Tuesday to move 600 ships and about 11,000 mariners stranded by the Strait of Hormuz closure, according to Al Jazeera. The plan offered two exits from the Gulf: one through Iranian waters and another through Omani waters with US oversight.
The strait had been effectively closed by Tehran after the war began on February 28, leaving ships stuck on both sides, according to Al Jazeera. The evacuation effort followed a memorandum of understanding signed last week between the United States and Iran to work toward ending the conflict.
The reported strike came hours after Iran told ships not to use a route through the strait without Tehran’s permission, according to Al Jazeera. British maritime security company Ambrey said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ordered two Panama-flagged vessels to alter course earlier Thursday.
After the incident, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, an Iranian-created body managing the Strait of Hormuz, said on X that vessels traveling outside its designated routes would not receive a safe-passage guarantee. The authority said owners, operators and vessel commanders would bear responsibility for consequences from using unauthorized routes.
Traffic remains below pre-war levels
MarineTraffic said it confirmed 31 commercial and energy-laden vessel crossings on Tuesday and 70 on Wednesday. The ship tracking firm said operators were still proceeding carefully rather than returning to normal traffic levels, compared with about 120 vessel movements per day before the war.
Oman’s Defence Ministry said the evacuation should take place in phases because current conditions raise the risk of collisions and require controlled ship movements. Denmark also said it would join an international maritime mission led by France and the United Kingdom to help reopen the waterway.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.