London (AFP) – Shipping groups warned Monday that it was too soon to start sailing through the Strait of Hormuz following US and Iranian promises that the trade route would reopen under their agreement to end the war. US President Donald Trump on Sunday declared: “Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!”, as he announced the agreement to halt the conflict. A “memorandum of understanding” between the two nations stipulated the “reopening of the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days”, as quoted by Iran’s Mehr news agency.
Hundreds of oil tankers and cargo ships have been stuck inside the Gulf since the war erupted on February 28. Iran has targeted ships and charged tolls for a small number to pass through the strait. Shipping and seafarers’ associations said leaders had not yet given enough detail to prompt the ships to start exiting. They “do not offer sufficient information regarding key aspects such as timings and safe routes”, Jakob Larsen, chief security officer at the shipping lobby BIMCO, said in a statement.
“We believe the security situation for the shipping industry remains volatile, and we still consider it very risky for ships to commence transits at this point,” he said. With the agreement scheduled to be signed on Friday, marine director Phillip Belcher of the tanker owners’ association Intertanko said “a cautious approach should be undertaken” by ships. In the same statement, the body’s managing director Tim Wilkins urged the US and Iran to make the Strait of Hormuz “free from the threat of mines” laid by Iranian forces in the conflict.
The International Maritime Organization says 20,000 seafarers are stuck on ships in the region and 11 maritime workers have been killed. It said Monday that it was “working with relevant countries, particularly Oman, Iran and the rest of the coastal States, on the safe route to be used for the evacuation of seafarers on trapped vessels and for trade to resume.” The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) cautioned that “The backlog of stranded vessels and the need for crew changes and rest, mean a realistic return to normal shipping patterns is weeks, if not months, away.”
© 2024 AFP
