The UN's International Maritime Organization announced Tuesday it will begin evacuating over 11,000 sailors stranded in the Gulf because of the ongoing Middle East war, according to a statement. The evacuation aims to remove civilian seafarers trapped amidst the naval blockade and hostilities involving Iran, the Houthis, and allied forces.
The announcement by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a UN specialized agency, marks the first formal multilateral effort to extract more than 11,000 stranded seafarers from the Gulf region amid the ongoing naval blockade and hostilities involving Iran, Houthi forces, and U.S./allied naval operations. The IMO said the evacuation operation is set to begin Tuesday, though it has not disclosed specific logistical arrangements or a timeline.
The move comes as the maritime situation in the broader Middle East has deteriorated sharply. As The Zioneer has reported, Iran has fully shut the Strait of Hormuz, and a US-led naval siege has interdicted 145 vessels trying to break the blockade. The Pentagon has kept roughly 50,000 American troops in the region across two carrier strike groups and 18 destroyers, operating missions that include protecting Israel, confronting the Houthis, and securing navigation. Meanwhile, India has confirmed several rescues of civilian sailors from burning or sinking vessels off Oman and has protested a CENTCOM strike that killed three Indian seafarers.
The stranded mariners include crew from commercial ships trapped by the closure of the Strait and by active combat zones. The IMO did not specify which nationalities make up the 11,000 or whether evacuation routes have been secured through both Iranian and coalition-controlled waters. Further operational details are pending.
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