The UN temporarily suspends the exit of the Strait of Hormuz after the attack on the cargo ship
The UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) has temporarily suspended the planned evacuation of more than 11,000 sailors who were stranded in the Strait of Hormuz after an attack on a cargo ship passing through the waters.
IMO chief Arsenio Dominguez said most of the boats have been removed, but the organization wants to ensure that the “necessary safety guarantees” will continue to be in place.
Britain’s maritime safety agency UKMTO reported on Thursday that the vessel was hit by an “unidentified projectile” 7.5 kilometers southeast of the Omani port of Dahit. No injuries were reported.
Vanguard, a maritime disaster management company, said the ship, the Ever Lovely flagged in Singapore, continued to be attacked despite being attacked.
The body established by Iran to control this road said that ships that pass outside the designated routes cannot be guaranteed safe passage.
In a post to X, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) said: “Any consequences arising from the use of unauthorized routes will be the responsibility of the ship owner, operator and ship manager”.
Hundreds of ships and thousands of sailors have been stranded in the Gulf since February because of the US-Israel war with Iran.
The migration effort of the UN was announced on Tuesday following the reopening of the strait, where Dominguez said that “great work” has the cooperation of Iran, Oman, the US, and other coastal states in the region and the maritime industry.
Dominguez said in a statement on Thursday that the ship that was attacked “did not go under the IMO evacuation framework”.
“I have been insisting that the safety of seafarers remains the priority. Therefore, in order to ensure an orderly approach and the safety of the ship, the evacuation plan will be suspended until further clarification is obtained,” he added.
Ship-tracking website MarineTraffic said the Ever Lovely entered the Strait using a southern route on Thursday morning and left due east at around 15:30 local time (16:30 BST).
Vanguard also reported that no assistance was required.
Last week the US and Iran agreed to end hostilities under a 14-point deal – which also called for Iran to use its “best efforts to pass commercial vessels free of charge for 60 days”.
However, Tehran has repeatedly said it plans to charge what it calls maritime service fees when crossing the river, as opposed to tolls.
The plan is strongly opposed by the US, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday warning that no country is allowed to impose taxes on the Strait of Hormuz, which he calls an “international waterway”.
Rubio is currently in Bahrain as part of a Gulf tour to discuss a deal with Tehran.
After the attack by the US and Israel against Iran at the end of February, Tehran effectively closed the road – an important waterway for the export of oil and gas – which caused a rise in oil prices worldwide and choked the export of other important materials such as fertilizers.
However, the cost of pollution has been falling sharply since the US and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on June 17, which set a 60-day period for talks on Tehran’s nuclear program and other ways to end the war.
Earlier on Thursday, the price of oil fell briefly below $72.48 (£55) a barrel, the price it was the day before the US and Israel launched an attack on Iran, before reaching $73.23.
