Ships attacked in Hormuz Strap: UN demands 'restraint' as 6,000 Gulf seafarers stranded

LONDON: The head of the International Maritime Organization on Wednesday called for 'maximum restraint and de-escalation' as almost 6,000 seafarers remained stranded amid fresh US-Iran attacks. 'These attacks further intensify the fear, uncertainty and psychological strain already being endured by the nearly 6,000 seafarers who remain stranded on board vessels,' IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said in a statement.
US President Donald Trump earlier on Wednesday said the US-Iran ceasefire was over, though he left the door open to more talks, after fighting sparked by Iranian attacks on ships in the vital Strait of Hormuz. The strategic shipping route remains a flashpoint in the conflict, which began in late February with massive US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Tehran insists on controlling the waterway, saying it will charge fees for passage and threatening to hit vessels that deviate from its authorised route. Its military has struck at least three ships in recent days, prompting extensive US strikes against Iranian targets on Tuesday followed by retaliatory attacks from Iran on Gulf countries.
'I condemn the attacks over the past two days against several ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz,' Dominguez said, adding that 'innocent seafarers' are 'in grave danger'. He called on 'all States concerned to exercise maximum restraint, de-escalate the situation without delay, and facilitate the safe departure of the ships still trapped in the Gulf since the crisis began. 'The safety of seafarers must remain our foremost priority,' he stressed.
US President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was 'over' on Wednesday but left the door open to more talks, after fighting flared sparked by Iranian attacks on ships in the vital Strait of Hormuz. The strategic shipping route remains a flashpoint in the conflict, which began in late February with massive US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Tehran insists on controlling the waterway, saying it will charge fees for passage and threatening to hit vessels that deviate from its authorised route. Its military struck at least three ships in recent days, prompting extensive US strikes against Iranian targets on Tuesday followed by retaliatory attacks from Iran on Gulf countries.
'As far as I'm concerned, it's over,' Trump said at a Nato summit in Türkiye on Wednesday when asked if the truce was intact. 'It's just a waste of time dealing with them,' he added. 'I'll let our wonderful negotiators keep talking if they want, but I don't see it. I don't like these people.'
Oil prices immediately jumped five per cent after Trump's remarks, having already reached their highest level in two weeks. Both the US and Iran said they had hit dozens of targets, placing fresh strain on their interim deal to end the Middle East war. Iranian state media reported a wave of explosions around the strait, including six on the island of Qeshm, seven in the city of Sirik and more in the major port city of Bandar Abbas.
It later reported a series of blasts in the coastal city of Bushehr, which hosts the country's only civilian nuclear power plant and lies near Kharg island, the main oil terminal through which 90 per cent of Iran's crude exports transit. State media said a member of the military's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) had been killed, while the foreign ministry said monitoring and observation sites had been hit on the southern coast. — AFP