Thousands of seafarers remain stranded in and around the Persian Gulf six months after the outbreak of the current Middle East conflict, the International Maritime organisation has reported. The period of protracted uncertainty has been marked by dozens of verified attacks on international shipping and a mounting human toll.
The conflict began on 28 February 2026 and, according to the IMO, has left thousands of crew unable to leave vessels or join relief rotations. The organisation has verified at least 70 attacks on international shipping in the area since that date and recorded 19 seafarer fatalities.
The scale and persistence of incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Persian Gulf have prompted sustained concern about merchant-vessel safety and the capacity to conduct routine maritime operations in the region. For many crews, normal schedules for crew change, rest and maintenance have been disrupted for months.
Commercial and humanitarian consequences are interlinked: vessels delayed or restricted in movement add pressure to owners and charterers while prolonging the time seafarers spend away from home. The IMO’s reporting confirms a clear link between the conflict’s escalation and rising maritime security threats in the immediate area.
Scope of verified attacks
The IMO’s tally of at least 70 verified attacks represents incidents that have been investigated and attributed within the organisation’s monitoring framework. Nineteen seafarers are reported to have lost their lives in those attacks, underscoring the lethal risk faced by merchant crews operating in a contested maritime environment.
Verification by the IMO offers a measure of international scrutiny and establishes a baseline for tracking the hazard to shipping. The figures also provide governments, classification societies and industry stakeholders with a documented record on which to plan protective measures.
Human cost and operational disruption
Beyond the immediate fatalities, thousands of seafarers remain unable to complete scheduled rotations or to disembark to medical care, leave or family visits. The extended time at sea and the uncertainty of safe passage affect seafarer wellbeing and complicate logistics for vessel owners and managers.
Ports and terminals in the broader Gulf littoral have been implicated in travel and access constraints, though the IMO’s verification focuses on attacks on international shipping. Detailed operational consequences vary by flag, trade lane and company, but the aggregate effect is disruption to normal merchant shipping rhythms.
In response to the evolving threat environment, the IMO’s Secretary-General, Arsenio Dominguez, issued a statement raising the issue to the international shipping community and the wider public. The organisation’s reporting has framed the months since 28 February as a prolonged period of uncertainty for seafarers in the Strait of Hormuz and adjacent waters.
The secretary-general’s statement adds the voice of the UN’s maritime agency to growing concern about the safety and security of merchant personnel. The IMO’s role in verifying incidents and compiling casualty figures provides an authoritative record that stakeholders use to assess threat levels and to consider protective or regulatory responses.
Industry actors, insurers and flag states will be looking to the IMO’s data to inform decisions on routing, convoying, armed protection and additional risk mitigation measures. Those operational choices will in turn determine how quickly normal crew rotations and commercial schedules can resume.
The human consequences of prolonged exposure to maritime danger are immediate and measurable in the IMO’s figures. The wider commercial effects, delays, rerouting, insurance and protection costs, are likely to be assessed in the coming months as stakeholders respond to the verified pattern of attacks.
The persistence of attacks and the continued presence of large numbers of seafarers unable to leave their ships emphasise the need for coordinated action by coastal states, international organisations and industry to reduce the risk to merchant shipping and to restore normal seafaring routines.