As many as 1,500 ships and their crews are trapped in the Gulf due to the Iranian blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, the secretary general of the U.N.'s International Maritime Organization (IMO) said on Thursday.
The war in the Middle East, unleashed on Feb. 28 by Israel and the United States against Iran, provoked reprisals from Tehran across the region and a shipping blockade in Hormuz, a crucial global trade route.
"Right now, we have approximately 20,000 crewmen and around 1,500 ships trapped," Arsenio Dominguez told the Maritime Convention of the Americas.
Dominguez said that maritime shipping moves over 80% of total consumed products in the world.
The stranded crew members "are innocent people who are doing their jobs every day for the benefit of other countries," but "are trapped by geopolitical situations outside their control," Dominguez told the gathering of industry executives and IMO representatives in Panama.
Before the conflict's outbreak, a fifth of the world's total petroleum and gas passed through the Strait of Hormuz. The closure has led to a significant global surge in the price of hydrocarbons.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a naval operation to escort the trapped ships and force the opening of the strait, but called off the push shortly after.
Washington is now waiting for an Iranian response to proposals for ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
