Twenty thousand seafarers aboard 1,600 vessels remain stranded in the Persian Gulf, and the men and women keeping global trade moving say the world has forgotten them. IMO Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez has given voice to their despair.
'I spoke to a seafarer who had been trapped in the Persian Gulf for more than six weeks,' Dominguez said. 'Aside from the exhaustion and toll on mental health of the crews, they feel invisible, that they are not valued.' The remarks foreground the humanitarian dimension of the Hormuz crisis.
On stranded ships crew change cannot be carried out; food and spare-parts deliveries are constrained; medical evacuations are delayed. Having lived through a similar crisis during the pandemic, the industry is pressing for the lessons of that period to be applied quickly.
P&I insurers, the ITF seafarers' union and industry associations are calling for suspended safe passage corridors for stranded crews and crew change. A lack of coordination between flag states and port authorities is the critical obstacle.
The industry's core message is unambiguous: seafarers are not combatants, they are civilian operators of commercial shipping. Each additional week of Hormuz disruption raises the risk of lasting damage to crew mental health and operational safety.
Key Takeaways:
1. 20,000 seafarers on 1,600 vessels remain stranded in the Persian Gulf.
2. IMO Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez says seafarers feel invisible.
3. Crew change is blocked; food, spares and medical evacuations are delayed.
4. P&I insurers, ITF and industry bodies are calling for safe-passage corridors.
5. Lack of coordination between flag states and port authorities is the core obstacle.
