IMO: Evacuation of 11,000 Sailors Stranded in Gulf to Take Several Weeks
"It will take us a few weeks before we can actually complete the evacuation," Dominguez said, adding that the UN agency hopes to eventually facilitate the movement of approximately 50 vessels per day.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The evacuation of more than 11,000 sailors stranded aboard hundreds of vessels in the Gulf due to the recent US-Iran war will take several weeks to complete, the head of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) said on Wednesday.
In an interview with AFP, IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said the operation, which began on Tuesday, aims to safely move around 600 ships that have remained stranded since the outbreak of the conflict.
"It will take us a few weeks before we can actually complete the evacuation," Dominguez said, adding that the UN agency hopes to eventually facilitate the movement of approximately 50 vessels per day.
"A few vessels transited yesterday afternoon," he noted. "This is an incremental process. It will take us a few weeks before we can actually complete the evacuation."
According to the IMO chief, each vessel is being provided with designated departure times in coordination with coastal authorities to ensure safe navigation and prevent accidents.
"What we don't want to cause is any collisions, any accidents," Dominguez said.
The evacuation operation is being conducted through two temporary routes—one close to the Omani coast and another near the Iranian coast—rather than the traditional shipping lane established by the IMO in 1968 under the Traffic Separation Scheme in the Strait of Hormuz.
Dominguez explained that concerns over naval mines have prevented the use of the usual route.
"We have received information that there are mines" in the traditional traffic corridor, he said. "It needs to be clear before it can be utilized."
He added that more than 80 mines are believed to be present along the standard exit passage.
Under a memorandum of understanding signed between Iran and the United States last week to end the conflict, Tehran committed to clearing the mines from the area within 30 days.