IMO pauses Strait of Hormuz ship evacuation after Oman coast strike

Dubai,UPDATED: Jun 26, 2026 01:44 IST

The Maritime Organisation has paused its effort to evacuate stranded ships through the Strait of Hormuz after a vessel was hit by a projectile off the coast of Oman on Thursday. The move came after the British military reported the strike, hours after Iran warned ships against using a new route through the waterway without Tehran's permission.

IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said the UN agency would keep the plan on hold until it could confirm safety guarantees for ships on the evacuation list and for vessels operating in the region. He said the vessel that was attacked was not part of the evacuation effort.

It was not immediately clear who launched the projectile or what type of vessel was targeted. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said the ship sustained damage but reported no injuries or environmental impact from the attack off Oman's coast.

After reports of the strike, Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority, a new agency set up to control shipping in the strait, said on X that transit outside its designated routes "will not be covered by the guarantee of safe passage".

The alternative route through the strait had been laid out by Oman and the Maritime Organisation. Early on Thursday, oil tankers led by the Stoic Warrior sailed along the coasts of the United Arab Emirates and Oman, passing close to Oman's Musandam Peninsula. North of that route lies the corridor in the centre of the strait where ships had moved freely before the war, carrying about a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas.

Iran has said it mined that central passage after the US and Israel attacked it on February 28, and at least one mine has been sighted there. Even so, some ships have been leaving the strait with US military support. The UN agency's operation was the latest effort to help stranded vessels. Shipping company Maersk said its container ship Maersk Baltimore and another chartered vessel made it out on Thursday.

Traffic through the strait has risen in recent days, though it remains below pre-war levels. Lloyd's List Intelligence said 125 vessels crossed the strait last week, up from 33 the week before. S&P Global said there were 78 transits on Wednesday, the highest since the war began, but still below the daily pre-war average of 130 or more. Oil briefly fell below its last pre-war price of just under USD 73 per barrel on Thursday, suggesting the market sees some easing in the situation.

Iran, however, has rejected the new shipping route. In a statement carried by state-run IRNA, the naval arm of the Revolutionary Guard said the route had been created without notice or coordination with Iran and described it as "unacceptable and completely dangerous". It added, "The only authorised route for passing through the Strait of Hormuz is the one declared by the Islamic Republic of Iran," and said, "Vessel traffic outside these routes is extremely dangerous and prohibited." The statement also warned, "Violators will be dealt with," without giving details.

On Wednesday, the Guard threatened one tanker over the radio, according to private security firm Ambrey, with a soldier saying, "You are in range of my missiles and maybe (I) fire on you." The opening of an alternative passage would ease pressure on the global economy and weaken one of Iran's main points of leverage in its ongoing peace talks with the United States.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is visiting the Gulf to reassure American allies, said Washington remained committed to the new route and to ensuring that ships can move through the strait. "If that stops, then we're going to have a problem," Rubio said earlier on Thursday. Later, at a meeting in Bahrain with foreign ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, he said, "There is no part in this deal that's undertaken that in any way undermines the security, the stability or the prosperity of any of our partners in the Gulf region." Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani said the agreement offered a glimmer of hope but stressed that it was "critically important that Iran adheres to its obligations".

The US and Iran are still negotiating the terms of an interim peace deal, including passage for ships through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf and the future of Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Under a memorandum of understanding signed last week, both sides have 60 days to settle the details. While talks continue behind closed doors, US President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders have also traded threats in public and claimed concessions that the other side denies.

At the same time, the broader truce in the region faced pressure from renewed fighting in Lebanon. A lull in fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah that began on Sunday showed signs of strain after Israel said it had targeted Hezbollah militants. Lebanon's health ministry said three people were killed in an Israeli strike on a car in southern Lebanon on Thursday, while Lebanon says five people have been killed in Israeli strikes over the past two days. Hezbollah has called the strikes a ceasefire violation but has not retaliated. The Israeli military said it fired on two separate groups it suspected were Hezbollah members and also said a reservist soldier was killed and another injured in southern Lebanon.

The developments left efforts to move ships through the Strait of Hormuz in doubt, with the UN pausing evacuations after the latest attack, Iran insisting that only its declared route can be used, and regional tensions continuing to shape both shipping security and the wider peace talks.

With PTI Inputs

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