6K seafarers stranded in Gulf, UN warns

Shafaq News- London

Around 6,000 seafarers remain stranded on hundreds of ships in the Gulf after renewed attacks on vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) said on Wednesday.

IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez warned that the attacks “further intensify the fear, uncertainty and psychological strain already being endured by the seafarers,” urging restraint and de-escalation, while advising stakeholders to avoid sending ships through the strait.

Ship-tracking data showed earlier today that four oil and gas tankers turned back from the Strait of Hormuz after renewed attacks damaged Qatar’s LNG tanker Al-Rekayyat and the Saudi-flagged crude tanker Wadiyan near the waterway. According to Initial reports, Al-Rekayyat was hit on its port side while transiting Hormuz, triggering a fire near the engine room and raising fears of an explosion, while Wadiyan was damaged off Oman’s coast.