By Adam Pourahmadi, Magdalena Vitores Moreno, CNN
(CNN) — An “unprecedented” crisis is unfolding for 20,000 seafarers stranded in the Persian Gulf, a UN body has warned, as the Strait of Hormuz closure leaves crews trapped on ships with no clear way out.
As the stalemate in the Gulf drags on, maritime workers – many from poor, developing countries – are finding themselves stranded at sea, caught between commercial pressure from ship owners, security threats from drones and sea mines and limited legal protections.
“It is an unprecedented situation,” Damien Chevallier, director of the Maritime Safety Division at the UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO), said in an interview with CNN. “We have around 20,000 seafarers in the Gulf for now close to eight weeks. It is a humanitarian crisis. We have never faced such a situation.”
The warning lays bare the severity of the situation facing the crews. Many are unable to dock on either side of the Persian Gulf: Iranian ports pose war-zone risks, while visa restrictions and logistical hurdles along the Arab states lining the Gulf’s southern shores make it difficult for many sailors to leave their vessels. The maritime exit – through the Strait of Hormuz – remains effectively closed.
Since the war started, Iran has sought to impose new navigation rules in the Persian Gulf, allowing vessels from so-called “friendly” countries to pass through the strait in exchange for fees.
In response, the Trump administration has moved to enforce a naval blockade targeting ships entering or leaving Iranian ports and warning shipping firms they could face sanctions if they pay those tolls.
The competing measures have created a standoff that has brought traffic through the strategic chokepoint to a near halt, with only a handful of vessels transiting the waterway each day compared to more than a hundred in normal conditions.
Hundreds of vessels are now seeking a way out of the war-torn area.
“Around 800 to 1,000 vessels would like to sail through the Strait of Hormuz to evacuate the area,” Chevallier said.
One such case is the Auroura, a sanctioned oil tanker linked to Iran’s shadow fleet of vessels used to transport oil in defiance of American sanctions.
Crew members told CNN in an interview last month that they had been stranded onboard for weeks after the war broke out, requesting repatriation after they say the ship’s owner pressured them to sail to Iran to pick up oil despite mounting risks.
The vessel’s crew, all Indian nationals, described worsening conditions onboard, including shortages of food and fresh water.
Manoj Yadav, a union organizer with the Forward Seamen’s Union of India, said the situation was dire.
“The crew is facing shortages of basic supplies,” he told CNN at the time. “They want to go back home. The situation on this vessel is not good.”
The Auroura is far from an isolated case, according to the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), a global trade union that represents seafarers around the world.
“It’s not only repatriation, it’s abandonment,” said Mohamed Arrachedi, the ITF’s flag of convenienc