How shipping companies are navigating danger in the Strait of Hormuz
CBC
As the Mideast conflict escalates near the Strait of Hormuz, merchant ships and their workers have been caught in the crosshairs.
Thirteen vessels have been attacked in the strait since the U.S. and Israel began their war on Iran on Feb. 28, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre, and at least seven crew members have been killed.
"It's the most dangerous place in the world at the moment," said Phillip Belcher, marine director for Intertanko, an organization that represents about 200 owners of independent tankers worldwide. He says seafarers are on edge.
"They're seeing the missiles going over their heads," he said. "They don't know if they're going to be one of those being attacked in the next few minutes. They are unprotected sitting on those ships."
The Strait of Hormuz is bordered by Iran, which has warned it would not allow any oil exports to pass through while it is at war. With merchant ships and their crew fearing for their safety, marine traffic has come to a standstill. UN Trade and Development estimates as many as 151 ships were transiting through daily in February. On Saturday, that was down to just four.
That's effectively blocked a key shipping route that is the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean.
There are reports some vessels are changing their tracking data to appear linked to China, hoping to reduce the risk of being targeted. Other ships may be turning off their automatic identification system transponder (AIS) to conceal their position.
But the huge tankers travel slowly, and Belcher says the strait is just 32 kilometres wide, with many Iranian spotters on the lookout.
"It's almost impossible to pass through the strait undetected," he said.
For almost two weeks, hundreds of vessels have been stranded in the Persian Gulf, with about 20,000 seafarers impacted in the region, according to the International Maritime Organization.
And it's not just oil tankers. There are also cargo ships that carry goods, food and chemicals. German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd says it has six container vessels anchored in the Persian Gulf, to the west of the strait, and it would like to get them out.
"We look at the situation, I should say, hour by hour, so it's very difficult to plan," said Nils Haupt, the company's senior director of communications. Even then, he says it's too high of a risk to take for workers on unarmed civilian ships. "You would not dare to go through the Strait of Hormuz at the moment."
Companies are also having to negotiate new insurance policies, with rates spiking because of the huge risks of crossing the strait.
"It's a new chapter in shipping … commercial shipping has never been attacked and has never been part of a war," Haupt said.
