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Strait of Hormuz incidents leave thousands of seafarers stranded since February
A cargo ship blackout and fire after an unknown projectile added to near-miss reports involving tankers as the conflict with Iran entered its sixth month.
The US led war on Iran has stranded up to 20,000 seafarers in the Gulf since February, with crews largely from India and the Philippines facing an extended wait as they cannot safely transit the waterway.
Guardian Business reports that the panicked crew of the Greek-owned, Liberian-flagged Minoan Pioneer broadcast a distress signal after an unknown projectile hit the vessel about 20 nautical miles north of the coast of Oman. The impact caused a blackout in the engine room and a fire in the accommodation area, and when the crew disembarked on Tuesday morning, they found that the third engineer was missing.
In the preceding 24 hours, two other vessels in the region, a large and a medium sized oil tanker, reported near misses. The repeated incidents highlight the risks faced by the thousands of seafarers remaining trapped, as Iran in effect blockaded the strait.
As the conflict has continued for about six months, 17 seafarers have died since hostilities began, most after Iranian strikes, and expectations for departure have been raised multiple times but then dashed, including after a ceasefire and a June peace deal that later broke down.