IMO Lists 93 Hormuz-Area Incidents and 24 Seafarer Deaths

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) listed 93 incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Middle East as of Oct. 5, including damage reports involving three vessels in early October and 24 seafarer deaths in the tally.

The list recorded damage to LIPSI in the Strait on Oct. 4, PROMISE east of Oman on Oct. 2, and KAZIMAH III in the Strait on Oct. 1. It did not identify who caused the incidents.

A separate count put the number of commercial ships attacked over the prior month at nearly 20, mostly tankers. Those incidents were in the Strait, Persian Gulf or off Oman. That count covers a different area and period from the IMO tally, so the figures are not directly comparable.

The Strait connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and serves as a passage for energy exports. Some crude is moved through Hormuz by tankers and transferred to other vessels in the Gulf of Oman for onward shipment to Asia, adding vessels and freight and insurance costs.

In a Sept. 16 update, the IMO said it had verified 80 attacks on international shipping in and around the Strait since the conflict began Feb. 28. At least 22 seafarers had died by that date. IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said, “In the Strait of Hormuz, it is not only one country attacking merchant vessels.”