About 2,000 vessels carrying more than 20,000 seafarers are stuck in the Persian Gulf, the International Maritime Organization told the Wall Street Journal, leaving many crews aboard for over a month. Fewer than 200 ships have been able to transit the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint normally carrying roughly 20% of the world’s oil along with shipments of natural gas, fertilizer and other cargoes. There is no clear timeline for a return to normal traffic.
Crew members report shrinking supplies of fresh food and drinking water. Sailors are exchanging survival tips over social media and very-high-frequency marine radios as they cope with longer-than-expected stays. Video and eyewitness accounts show some seafarers collecting condensate from air-conditioning units for bathing and laundry, while others fish for tuna, squid and largehead hairtail to stretch rations.
Resupplying ships has become more difficult and expensive. The Port of Fujairah in the UAE, a usual source of provisions, has been repeatedly targeted, and suppliers are charging much higher prices. Supply lists reviewed by the Wall Street Journal show mangoes priced at about USD 31 per kilogram and oranges around USD 15 per kilogram. Crew changes are also constrained: flights to regional hubs such as Dubai remain limited and costly, complicating rotations and repatriations.
The London-based International Transport Workers’ Federation has recorded roughly 1,000 assistance requests from crews operating near the Strait of Hormuz. Increasingly, vessels are reporting critical shortages of food; about 200 seafarers have sought help to disembark and return home. More than half of the inquiries concern pay and contractual entitlements while working in a declared war zone.
Ship operators, unions and international agencies are monitoring the situation and appealing for measures to protect crew welfare, maintain safe resupply routes and restore regular transit through the strait. Meanwhile, thousands of mariners remain confined aboard their ships as uncertainty over the duration of the disruption persists.
