UN maritime agency says 400 ships stranded in Gulf amid ongoing Mideast war

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) said Friday that 400 vessels and 6,000 seafarers are stranded in the Gulf six months after the war in the Middle East began.

"While some ships and their crews have been able to leave the Gulf, up to 400 ships carrying around 6,000 seafarers have been unable to depart safely since the conflict began," Arsenio Dominguez, the head of the IMO, said. He described the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which one-fifth of global oil trade passes, as "unresolved."

The UN agency has verified at least 70 attacks on international shipping since the war started on Feb. 28, resulting in the deaths of 19 seafarers.

Dominguez emphasized that the disruption of vital supply chains for fuel and fertilizer has "grave" consequences for communities and economies worldwide. He noted that the situation is particularly distressing for the thousands of "innocent" workers living under conditions of "heightened risk and uncertainty."

Dominguez encouraged a "renewed political will" from member states and the shipping industry to restore freedom of navigation through the waterway.

The US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in June and launched negotiations toward a final agreement. Talks later stalled, however, over disagreements about security guarantees and freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.