IMO Secretary-General Warns of Threats to Commercial Shipping and Seafarers in the Strait of Hormuz

The Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), at the opening of the Organization's Council session, once again warned about the continuation of threats against commercial shipping and the lives of seafarers in the Strait of Hormuz.

Arsenio Dominguez, at the opening of the 138th session of the Council of the International Maritime Organization in London, expressing concern over the consequences of the continuation of military conflicts on maritime transport, announced that commercial vessels in the world's important waterways remain exposed to attacks and that seafarers are paying the price of these conflicts.

He said: "In the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Black Sea and Azov, commercial shipping remains exposed to attack, and seafarers continue to pay the price."

Referring to the humanitarian consequences of this situation, the IMO Secretary-General added that seafarers have become pawns in political disputes in which they play no role in their formation, and face arbitrary restrictions, discrimination, and punitive measures.

Dominguez emphasized that such a situation is unacceptable and that he will continue to pursue the issue of the protection of seafarers on various occasions.

He also expressed concern over the increase in the threat of piracy and armed robbery in the western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, and said that a supplementary report on the state of shipping security and the measures of the IMO Secretariat will be presented within the framework of item 11 of the Council session's agenda.

The IMO Secretary-General's latest remarks come at a time when the Strait of Hormuz, since the beginning of the military aggression of the United States and Israel against Iran on February 28, 2026 (9 Esfand 1404), has faced serious disruption in the passage of commercial vessels and the intensification of security risks.

It is worth noting that the Islamic Republic of Iran, in a document provided to the member states, has described the consequences of the attacks on ports, vessels, maritime traffic control systems, and rescue centers, and has warned that the destruction of these infrastructures, in addition to damaging the country's maritime capacities, has also exposed the safety of shipping in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Sea of Oman to serious risks.