A large-scale evacuation operation has been started to safely rescue more than 11 thousand sailors stranded in the Strait of Hormuz. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) of the United Nations has said that under this operation, maritime workers will be evacuated safely with the help of hundreds of ships.
This step has been taken after the recent peace agreement between America and Iran. After the agreement between the two countries to end the conflict, efforts are now being made to normalize maritime traffic in the area.
500 to 600 ships will be involved
According to IMO, 500 to 600 commercial ships will be included in this campaign. The agency has also started contacting ships so that the stranded sailors can be safely evacuated from the Gulf area. Before the war, about 130 ships passed through Hormuz every day, but in recent times this number had reduced to 20 to 30 ships per day. Now after the implementation of the evacuation plan, the movement of ships is expected to increase gradually.
Two new sea routes were created
IMO has set two temporary sea routes for the safe movement of ships.
- The northern route will pass close to the coast of Iran
- The southern route will pass through the maritime zones of Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
- The organization has said that ships can be stopped at any time due to security reasons.
danger of landmines
The IMO has warned that there remains a risk of mines and poor navigation conditions at sea. Therefore, captains of ships have been instructed not to proceed on their own and wait for instructions from the authorities. Each ship will be included in a particular transit group and will be allotted different days for the journey.
14 sailors have died so far
So far 14 sailors have died in attacks on ships in Hormuz since the conflict started in the Middle East. Maritime transport has been severely affected due to frequent missile and drone attacks in the region, which has also affected global energy supplies.
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