International shipping regulator to discuss possible ‘safe maritime corridor’

The International Maritime Organization will begin an extraordinary session today to discuss shipping, including establishing “a safe maritime corridor to allow the safe evacuation of seafarers and ships stranded in the Persian Gulf”.

The meeting of the London-based UN agency – responsible for regulating international shipping safety – comes as fears grow over the fate of thousands of ships and seafarers stranded by the war. Iran’s retaliation to Israeli-US strikes has crippled commercial shipping in or near the strait of Hormuz.

Although, as we noted in an earlier, post Iran is still managing to export millions of barrels of oil.

An effective Iranian blockade of the strait has dramatically spiked oil prices, spooked markets, and left about 20,000 seafarers stranded on approximately 3,200 vessels west of the strait, according to the IMO.

At least 21 ships have been hit, targeted or have reported attacks since the start of the conflict, according to an AFP tally based on data from the UK Maritime Trade Operations, the IMO and Iraqi and Iranian authorities.