UN Chief Urges Evacuation of 20,000 Sailors Trapped in Hormuz Crisis

At meeting of the Security Council on maritime security, he also made a plea on behalf of the sailors trapped in Hormuz region, asking for the implementation of an emergency plan to evacuate

More than 20,000 seafarers remain stranded at sea in the over 2,000 commercial vessels "caught in a web of risks and restrictions to navigation", he said.

"Their safety, their well-being, and their rights must be protected -- at all times, and in all waters", he said.

He urged member nations to support the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) emergency evacuation framework for a coordinated plan "to ensure the safe movement, assistance, and protection of affected crews".

About 30 Indian-flagged ships with over 1,000 personnel are trapped in the Hormuz region, according to reports, and three Indian-flagged ships have been attacked by Iran.

Thousands of other Indian sailors are reported stuck in ships of other countries stranded in the zone, and three have died in attacks on their vessels.

IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez called for upholding the "traffic separation scheme or maritime corridor" involving Iran and Oman devised by his organisation and which the two countries accepted.

Guterres warned: "Prolonged disruption risks triggering a global food emergency - pushing millions, especially in Africa and South Asia, into hunger and poverty".

Since 20 per cent of oil and gas, and a third of internationally traded fertilisers pass through the strait, he said, "Safe, unimpeded passage is an economic and humanitarian imperative".

"The economic shock has been immediate -- and everyone is paying the price," he said.

He said he opposed the imposition on tolls on shipping.

The chairman of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Ebrahim Azizi, told the Iranian government TV that a legislation measure would impose tolls that would be collected in Ryals.

Dominguez said, "There is no legal basis for any country to introduce payments or impose tolls, fees, or discriminatory conditions on international straits".

- IANS