The International Maritime Organization has convened emergency talks in London to address growing disruptions to global shipping caused by escalating tensions in the Middle East.
Opening the two-day meeting, IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez called for urgent and practical steps to safeguard commercial vessels and seafarers affected by the conflict.
“This situation is unacceptable and unsustainable,” Dominguez said, urging member states to focus on “practical measures” to resolve the crisis.
“Shipping has demonstrated time and again how resilient it is but geopolitics are testing the sector to the limit and every time that shipping is used as collateral damage in these conflicts, the whole world is negatively affected.”
The meeting, which includes participation from all 176 member states alongside non-governmental organisations and maritime industry groups, comes amid mounting concerns over safety in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s retaliation to strikes by Israel and the United States has significantly disrupted maritime activities in the region, leaving an estimated 20,000 seafarers stranded on about 3,200 vessels, according to IMO data.
The council is expected to consider several proposals, including one aimed at creating a safe maritime corridor to enable the evacuation of stranded ships and crew in the Persian Gulf. However, any resolutions adopted would not be legally binding.
Several countries, including the United Arab Emirates, strongly criticised Iran’s actions during the session.
“The United Arab Emirates expresses its rejection and condemnation in the strongest terms of… Iran’s unprovoked, unjustifiable, indiscriminate and wholly unlawful attacks,” the country’s IMO representative said.
He added that the actions “constitute a serious breach of our sovereignty, territorial integrity” and were “a flagrant violation of fundamental rules and principles of international law”.
The tensions have raised alarm globally, particularly due to the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies pass. Disruptions in the area have already driven up oil prices and unsettled global markets.
According to the UK Maritime Trade Operations, at least 21 vessels have been attacked, targeted, or reported incidents since the conflict began.
Western nations including United Kingdom, France, and Germany have called on the IMO to adopt a declaration condemning what they described as “egregious attacks” on commercial shipping.
They argued that Iran has “threatened and attacked commercial vessels and seafarers, as well as civilian maritime infrastructure”, adding that such actions are “unjustifiable and must cease”.
They also raised concerns over what they described as Iran’s “purported closure of the Strait of Hormuz”.
In its response, Iran blamed the deteriorating maritime security situation on strikes carried out by Israel and the United States.
“The adverse maritime repercussions currently affecting shipping and seafarers are a direct and inevitable consequence of these unlawful actions and cannot be viewed in isolation from their underlying cause,” Iran stated.
Meanwhile, countries such as Japan, Panama, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates have proposed measures to establish a coordinated framework for the safe evacuation of ships and seafarers from high-risk zones.
Maritime industry groups have also called for a unified global security approach, stressing that “seafarer welfare must be taken into account”.
They emphasised the need to ensure continued communication with families, facilitate crew changes and disembarkation, and maintain adequate supplies for those stranded at sea.
The outcome of the emergency talks is expected to shape the global response to one of the most significant maritime security challenges in recent years.
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