The International Maritime Organization (IMO) and International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) welcomed the conditional ceasefire between the US and Iran.
IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez stressed seafarer welfare as he has done since the war in the Middle East started on 28 February.
“For the health and wellbeing of seafarers and the global shipping industry, I welcome the ceasefire announced in the Middle East. I am already working with the relevant parties to implement an appropriate mechanism to ensure the safe transit of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. The priority now is to ensure an evacuation that guarantees the safety of navigation,” Dominguez stated
An estimated 1,000 vessels with 20,000 seafarers onboard were trapped in the Gulf when the war started and Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz.
Thomas A. Kazakos, Secretary General of the ICS, commented, “This news will be a relief to the 20,000 seafarers who have been at the forefront of this crisis. Our thoughts remain with those civilians and seafarers who have already been injured or sadly lost their lives.
A 14-day ceasefire has been agreed between the US and Iran, with Israel saying it welcomed the truce but that it did not include Lebanon.
Iran has agreed to re-open the Strait of Hormuz for the period of the ceasefire but with the coordination with Iran’s Armed forces and consideration of “technical limitations”. It is also reported that Iran will charge a fee for passage of the Strait.
ICS’ Kazakos stressed the importance of freedom of navigation. “An immediate return to freedom of navigation is now essential, and states should work with shipping to ensure orderly and unimpeded transits through the Strait. This will require coordination between industry and nation states from both inside and outside the Gulf region and ICS is willing to assist this process is any way we can.”
Bimco Chief Safety & Security Officer, Jakob Larsen said that ships trapped in the Gulf would be interested to leave as soon as it safe to do so and the industry was awaiting technical details on how to transit the Strait safely. Leaving the region without coordination with Iran and US was not advisable due to the heightened risk.
“Iran has announced that they want to be in control of transits in the Strait. However, Iran’s military command structure has been severely impacted by attacks in recent weeks which could lead to misunderstandings between the Iranian authorities approving transits and the Iranian military formations that control the weapons. Such misunderstandings could potentially lead to unintended targeting and attacks on ships approved for transit,” Larsen stated.