The United Nations is working with countries to resume the evacuation of hundreds of ships and thousands of stranded seafarers from the Strait of Hormuz after the effort was halted earlier this week.
Evacuation Efforts Paused
A top U.N. agency official said the evacuation initiative was temporarily paused after a container ship operated by Taiwan’s Evergreen was attacked. Some 115 vessels and around 2,500 seafarers were able to sail through the strait before evacuations were paused.
IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said he was working vigilantly with several parties and was having conversations with countries — particularly Oman, the United States, and Iran — in order to find guarantees that vessels will not be targeted.
The evacuation plan provided two channels for sailing out through the strait, either via Iranian waters in the north or Omani waters in the south. However, the central section is currently not usable due to the presence of explosive mines.
Dominguez estimated that it will take a few weeks before the remaining 500 vessels that need to be evacuated can be safely removed.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
