The United Nations maritime agency has evacuated 115 vessels and approximately 2,500 seafarers from the Strait of Hormuz since Tuesday, the UN maritime head said Friday. The figure marks a sharp increase from earlier evacuations, as the international campaign to clear stranded shipping from the strategic waterway accelerates. The number of personnel rescued has more than doubled from the 1,100 crew reported transit earlier this week, according to UN data.
The UN maritime head revealed Friday that 115 vessels and 2,500 seafarers have been evacuated from the Strait of Hormuz since Tuesday, a major acceleration of the international effort to clear the strategic waterway of stranded shipping during Iran's ongoing blockade.
The announcement comes three days after the UN began a formal evacuation operation (as The Zioneer reported on Wednesday, June 24). Earlier this week, Reuters data showed 57 ships with about 1,100 crew transited the strait in two days, a figure the UN cited to track crew exposure to risk. On Thursday, 25 commercial vessels crossed the strait, the highest daily count since mid-April.
Friday's figure of 115 ships and 2,500 seafarers marks more than double the number of crew transited earlier in the week, indicating the evacuation campaign has expanded significantly. The clearance effort follows weeks of disruption since Iran declared a full closure of the strait last month, leading to a mass stranding of vessels and a major threat to global oil supply and shipping lanes. The UN's overall estimate of sailors stranded in the Gulf has been cited at over 11,000.
The source is the UN maritime head speaking on Friday, and is credible but single-source for the evacuation figure; corroboration from additional UN briefings is awaited.
2 developments
- DevelopingUN begins evacuation of ships from Strait of Hormuz
- DevelopingUN maritime agency begins evacuation of 11,000 sailors stranded in Gulf due to regional war
- Developing25 commercial vessels cross Strait of Hormuz on Thursday — highest since mid-April
- DevelopingCENTCOM: 55 commercial ships transit Strait of Hormuz, traffic increases
Source and signal
- Internal intake