U.N. Launches Mass Evacuation of 11,000 Seafarers Stranded in the Strait of Hormuz

The United Nations' International Maritime Organization has begun a mass evacuation of more than 11,000 seafarers stranded aboard tankers and cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the culmination of an unprecedented crisis that has trapped crews in the Persian Gulf since the war between Iran and a U.S.-Israeli coalition erupted in February.

The IMO announced on June 23 that it would implement the long-awaited evacuation, identifying two temporary sea lanes for ships to exit the world's most important oil chokepoint: a "Northern route" hugging the Iranian coastline and a "Southern route" passing through Omani and Emirati waters. The agency said the operation would be carried out in close cooperation with Iran, Oman, other Gulf coastal states, the United States and the maritime industry.

The seafarers had been stuck since Feb. 28, when the United States and Israel launched their opening strikes on Iran, a campaign that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and triggered hundreds of retaliatory missiles and thousands of drones across the region. Iran's wartime restrictions on the strait choked off one of the planet's busiest waterways, leaving crews stranded for months in punishing heat with dwindling supplies.

The evacuation is directly tied to a fragile peace process. A memorandum of understanding signed by the U.S. and Iranian presidents in mid-June set a 60-day timeline to formally end the conflict, and follow-on talks in Switzerland produced agreement to create a "de-confliction cell" to wind down military operations. Easing the strait's restrictions was among the first tangible dividends of that diplomacy.

If the operation succeeds, the IMO said, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz could return to pre-war levels of roughly 130 ships per day, up from the high twenties and thirties recorded in recent days. Roughly a fifth of the world's oil and much of its liquefied natural gas pass through the narrow passage, and the blockade had rattled global energy markets and snarled supply chains for months.

Maritime officials cautioned that the evacuation is delicate and could be disrupted if the ceasefire falters. Hostilities have flared even amid the talks, including a recent Iranian drone strike on a cargo ship and renewed U.S. strikes on Iranian military targets, underscoring how tenuous the truce remains. Still, the start of the operation marked the first large-scale relief for thousands of mariners — and their families — after one of the most harrowing episodes in modern maritime history.