IMO Secretary-General urges practical solutions and renewed cooperation to restore freedom of navigation
The IMO Council, meeting in July, reaffirmed that the right of transit passage through straits used for international navigation must not be threatened, impeded, denied, hampered, impaired or suspended.
Thousands of seafarers have been stuck in the Persian Gulf since the current conflict in the Middle East began on 28 February this year. To date, at least 70 attacks on international shipping have been verified by IMO, with 19 seafarers killed.
With maritime security threats on the rise globally, IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez issued the following statement:
“Six months since the conflict in the Middle East began, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz is unresolved.
Thousands of seafarers in the region continue to live and work under conditions of heightened risk and uncertainty.
While some ships and their crews have been able to leave the Persian Gulf, up to 400 ships carrying around 6,000 seafarers have been unable to depart safely since the conflict began. (....)