The crews stuck at sea as the Strait of Hormuz crisis grows
The Strait of Hormuz crisis is leaving thousands of crew members on commercial ships stranded. Arsenio Dominguez, head of the UN's International Maritime Organization, explains.
Transcript
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
The situation in the Strait of Hormuz escalated yet again today. The U.S. reimposed its blockade on Iranian ports, and the U.N. is warning commercial ships not to risk the crossing. The strait is the main route out of the Persian Gulf. And with that passage now too dangerous, thousands of people on board commercial ships remain stranded and an international effort to evacuate them is on hold. We're going to bring in now Arsenio Dominguez, the secretary-general of the United Nations' International Maritime Organization. Thanks for joining us.
ARSENIO DOMINGUEZ: My pleasure.
DETROW: Let me start this broadly. How do you even begin approaching your job when two countries are at war and the Strait of Hormuz is a bargaining chip and the central focus of that war?
DOMINGUEZ: It's one of the reasons why we exist. This is one of the main roles of the International Maritime Organization, and of course, my role and my duties - to find all the solutions and look into all the mechanisms that we can put in place in order to guarantee that shipping, that represents and transports around 90% of global goods for the benefit of everyone, can do it without being hampered, without challenges and in a very sustainable, secure and sound manner. That's why we're so invested in engaging not only with the countries in the region, but those particularly in the conflict, and resume the operations of shipping in the way that they were before the conflict started.
DETROW: Have you ever dealt with anything at this level before? Is this totally unprecedented, or was there a playbook as this began on what you and your organization would do next?
DOMINGUEZ: Every now and then, we have to deal with some negative effects of geopolitics impacting shipping. What's happening in recent years is that it's been very continuous. And the way that we've been affected is pushing shipping to the limit. It started with the COVID pandemic. We continued to be the only mode of mass transportation that provided the necessary goods to the global population, even though it was detrimental to many seafarers. We were then affected with the invasion of Russia into Ukraine, and of course, the situation in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, which, by the way, is not over yet.
Then we move straight into the attack of the Houthis, two commercial vessels in the Red Sea. And now we're dealing with the situation in the Persian Gulf, in particular the Strait of Hormuz. So it's been a continuous negative effect on shipping when geopolitics are using it as collateral. Of course, the innocent seafarers, our main priority, have been affected throughout all this period. And shipping has also suffered.
DETROW: Let me ask what your immediate priorities are in a moment like this. Is it to get the people stuck on ships out of the strait safely? Is it to work to have a long-term plan in place to keep shipping moving again? Is it to make sure the strait is demined? Like, what is your triage list each day?
DOMINGUEZ: There are several priorities. The first one is the evacuation of the innocent civilian seafarers. Around 6,000 of them remain trapped in the Persian Gulf since the conflict started. And the situation is dire because the supplies that they require, the assistance - medical assistance, fatigue, mental health - continues to increase for as long as this conflict is extended.
Once we actually move forward on the evacuation of seafarers, the next step is to make the strait safe again. And that, in particular, is the demining of the traffic separation scheme. The moment that that takes place, the next step is the resumption of trade in the Strait of Hormuz, to start increasing to the levels that we saw before the conflict of around 135 vessels a day. So we just need to go step by step in order to achieve the main goal.
DETROW: How frequently do you directly talk to people on these ships? What do you tell them?
DOMINGUEZ: I had the opportunity to speak to some of them. Some have actually thankfully evacuated the Strait of Hormuz. And they tell me in particular the hardship that they go through, but also how they support each other. But one specific message is that they feel abandoned.
They feel that whenever the focus on the conflict in the Strait of Hormuz reaches the headlines, it's normally the economic impact that it has on the global population and not so much on the innocent seafarers that get caught into these conflicts by just doing their jobs. So they want more recognition of how vital they are, how important they are and how they're risking their lives, how they've been away from their loved ones for a long period of time for the benefit of everyone else. And this is why I continue to put seafarers first on any conversations that I would have not only on this topic, but on any other one relevant to them.
DETROW: It's mid-July at this point. Any sort of momentum toward a long-term solution seems to be out the window in recent weeks. What is your level of hope that some sort of normalcy can be put back in place in the near future, if not by the end of this year?
DOMINGUEZ: The fact that the parties in the conflict remain engaged. There is a memorandum of understanding that, for me, allows those parties to maintain that engagement or reengage, find out what are the areas where the common agreement remains and the areas where further conversations and further clarification is required. The moment that things deescalate and the countries go back onto the table, things will start moving forward again. We had the opportunity to introduce that evacuation framework right after the MOU was signed. And in a matter of a few days, we evacuated nearly 3,000 seafarers. So progress can be made once the situation deescalates, and that's what we're working on, and that's the call from all the member states of the IMO.
DETROW: That's Arsenio Dominguez, the secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization at the United Nations. Thank you so much for talking to us.
DOMINGUEZ: Thank you.
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
Read the full story at NPR ↗
The Strait of Hormuz crisis is leaving thousands of crew members on commercial ships stranded. Arsenio Dominguez, head of the UN's International Maritime Organization, explains
This lens runs the verified story through Cinnamon's AI — wired in the next step.
The Strait of Hormuz crisis is leaving thousands of crew members on commercial ships stranded. Arsenio Dominguez, head of the UN's International Maritime Organization, explains.
Transcript
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
The situation in the Strait of Hormuz escalated yet again today. The U.S. reimposed its blockade on Iranian ports, and the U.N. is warning commercial ships not to risk the crossing. The strait is the main route out of the Persian Gulf. And with that passage now too dangerous, thousands of people on board commercial ships remain stranded and an international effort to evacuate them is on hold. We're going to bring in now Arsenio Dominguez, the secretary-general of the United Nations' International Maritime Organization. Thanks for joining us.
ARSENIO DOMINGUEZ: My pleasure.
DETROW: Let me start this broadly. How do you even begin approaching your job when two countries are at war and the Strait of Hormuz is a bargaining chip and the central focus of that war?
DOMINGUEZ: It's one of the reasons why we exist. This is one of the main roles of the International Maritime Organization, and of course, my role and my duties - to find all the solutions and look into all the mechanisms that we can put in place in order to guarantee that shipping, that represents and transports around 90% of global goods for the benefit of everyone, can do it without being hampered, without challenges and in a very sustainable, secure and sound manner. That's why we're so invested in engaging not only with the countries in the region, but those particularly in the conflict, and resume the operations of shipping in the way that they were before the conflict started.
DETROW: Have you ever dealt with anything at this level before? Is this totally unprecedented, or was there a playbook as this began on what you and your organization would do next?
DOMINGUEZ: Every now and then, we have to deal with some negative effects of geopolitics impacting shipping. What's happening in recent years is that it's been very continuous. And the way that we've been affected is pushing shipping to the limit. It started with the COVID pandemic. We continued to be the only mode of mass transportation that provided the necessary goods to the global population, even though it was detrimental to many seafarers. We were then affected with the invasion of Russia into Ukraine, and of course, the situation in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, which, by the way, is not over yet.
Then we move straight into the attack of the Houthis, two commercial vessels in the Red Sea. And now we're dealing with the situation in the Persian Gulf, in particular the Strait of Hormuz. So it's been a continuous negative effect on shipping when geopolitics are using it as collateral. Of course, the innocent seafarers, our main priority, have been affected throughout all this period. And shipping has also suffered.
DETROW: Let me ask what your immediate priorities are in a moment like this. Is it to get the people stuck on ships out of the strait safely? Is it to work to have a long-term plan in place to keep shipping moving again? Is it to make sure the strait is demined? Like, what is your triage list each day?
DOMINGUEZ: There are several priorities. The first one is the evacuation of the innocent civilian seafarers. Around 6,000 of them remain trapped in the Persian Gulf since the conflict started. And the situation is dire because the supplies that they require, the assistance - medical assistance, fatigue, mental health - continues to increase for as long as this conflict is extended.
Once we actually move forward on the evacuation of seafarers, the next step is to make the strait safe again. And that, in particular, is the demining of the traffic separation scheme. The moment that that takes place, the next step is the resumption of trade in the Strait of Hormuz, to start increasing to the levels that we saw before the conflict of around 135 vessels a day. So we just need to go step by step in order to achieve the main goal.
DETROW: How frequently do you directly talk to people on these ships? What do you tell them?
DOMINGUEZ: I had the opportunity to speak to some of them. Some have actually thankfully evacuated the Strait of Hormuz. And they tell me in particular the hardship that they go through, but also how they support each other. But one specific message is that they feel abandoned.
They feel that whenever the focus on the conflict in the Strait of Hormuz reaches the headlines, it's normally the economic impact that it has on the global population and not so much on the innocent seafarers that get caught into these conflicts by just doing their jobs. So they want more recognition of how vital they are, how important they are and how they're risking their lives, how they've been away from their loved ones for a long period of time for the benefit of everyone else. And this is why I continue to put seafarers first on any conversations that I would have not only on this topic, but on any other one relevant to them.
DETROW: It's mid-July at this point. Any sort of momentum toward a long-term solution seems to be out the window in recent weeks. What is your level of hope that some sort of normalcy can be put back in place in the near future, if not by the end of this year?
DOMINGUEZ: The fact that the parties in the conflict remain engaged. There is a memorandum of understanding that, for me, allows those parties to maintain that engagement or reengage, find out what are the areas where the common agreement remains and the areas where further conversations and further clarification is required. The moment that things deescalate and the countries go back onto the table, things will start moving forward again. We had the opportunity to introduce that evacuation framework right after the MOU was signed. And in a matter of a few days, we evacuated nearly 3,000 seafarers. So progress can be made once the situation deescalates, and that's what we're working on, and that's the call from all the member states of the IMO.
DETROW: That's Arsenio Dominguez, the secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization at the United Nations. Thank you so much for talking to us.
DOMINGUEZ: Thank you.
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
Read the full story at NPR ↗
The Strait of Hormuz crisis is leaving thousands of crew members on commercial ships stranded. Arsenio Dominguez, head of the UN's International Maritime Organization, explains.
Transcript
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
The situation in the Strait of Hormuz escalated yet again today. The U.S. reimposed its blockade on Iranian ports, and the U.N. is warning commercial ships not to risk the crossing. The strait is the main route out of the Persian Gulf. And with that passage now too dangerous, thousands of people on board commercial ships remain stranded and an international effort to evacuate them is on hold. We're going to bring in now Arsenio Dominguez, the secretary-general of the United Nations' International Maritime Organization. Thanks for joining us.
ARSENIO DOMINGUEZ: My pleasure.
DETROW: Let me start this broadly. How do you even begin approaching your job when two countries are at war and the Strait of Hormuz is a bargaining chip and the central focus of that war?
DOMINGUEZ: It's one of the reasons why we exist. This is one of the main roles of the International Maritime Organization, and of course, my role and my duties - to find all the solutions and look into all the mechanisms that we can put in place in order to guarantee that shipping, that represents and transports around 90% of global goods for the benefit of everyone, can do it without being hampered, without challenges and in a very sustainable, secure and sound manner. That's why we're so invested in engaging not only with the countries in the region, but those particularly in the conflict, and resume the operations of shipping in the way that they were before the conflict started.
DETROW: Have you ever dealt with anything at this level before? Is this totally unprecedented, or was there a playbook as this began on what you and your organization would do next?
DOMINGUEZ: Every now and then, we have to deal with some negative effects of geopolitics impacting shipping. What's happening in recent years is that it's been very continuous. And the way that we've been affected is pushing shipping to the limit. It started with the COVID pandemic. We continued to be the only mode of mass transportation that provided the necessary goods to the global population, even though it was detrimental to many seafarers. We were then affected with the invasion of Russia into Ukraine, and of course, the situation in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, which, by the way, is not over yet.
Then we move straight into the attack of the Houthis, two commercial vessels in the Red Sea. And now we're dealing with the situation in the Persian Gulf, in particular the Strait of Hormuz. So it's been a continuous negative effect on shipping when geopolitics are using it as collateral. Of course, the innocent seafarers, our main priority, have been affected throughout all this period. And shipping has also suffered.
DETROW: Let me ask what your immediate priorities are in a moment like this. Is it to get the people stuck on ships out of the strait safely? Is it to work to have a long-term plan in place to keep shipping moving again? Is it to make sure the strait is demined? Like, what is your triage list each day?
DOMINGUEZ: There are several priorities. The first one is the evacuation of the innocent civilian seafarers. Around 6,000 of them remain trapped in the Persian Gulf since the conflict started. And the situation is dire because the supplies that they require, the assistance - medical assistance, fatigue, mental health - continues to increase for as long as this conflict is extended.
Once we actually move forward on the evacuation of seafarers, the next step is to make the strait safe again. And that, in particular, is the demining of the traffic separation scheme. The moment that that takes place, the next step is the resumption of trade in the Strait of Hormuz, to start increasing to the levels that we saw before the conflict of around 135 vessels a day. So we just need to go step by step in order to achieve the main goal.
DETROW: How frequently do you directly talk to people on these ships? What do you tell them?
DOMINGUEZ: I had the opportunity to speak to some of them. Some have actually thankfully evacuated the Strait of Hormuz. And they tell me in particular the hardship that they go through, but also how they support each other. But one specific message is that they feel abandoned.
They feel that whenever the focus on the conflict in the Strait of Hormuz reaches the headlines, it's normally the economic impact that it has on the global population and not so much on the innocent seafarers that get caught into these conflicts by just doing their jobs. So they want more recognition of how vital they are, how important they are and how they're risking their lives, how they've been away from their loved ones for a long period of time for the benefit of everyone else. And this is why I continue to put seafarers first on any conversations that I would have not only on this topic, but on any other one relevant to them.
DETROW: It's mid-July at this point. Any sort of momentum toward a long-term solution seems to be out the window in recent weeks. What is your level of hope that some sort of normalcy can be put back in place in the near future, if not by the end of this year?
DOMINGUEZ: The fact that the parties in the conflict remain engaged. There is a memorandum of understanding that, for me, allows those parties to maintain that engagement or reengage, find out what are the areas where the common agreement remains and the areas where further conversations and further clarification is required. The moment that things deescalate and the countries go back onto the table, things will start moving forward again. We had the opportunity to introduce that evacuation framework right after the MOU was signed. And in a matter of a few days, we evacuated nearly 3,000 seafarers. So progress can be made once the situation deescalates, and that's what we're working on, and that's the call from all the member states of the IMO.
DETROW: That's Arsenio Dominguez, the secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization at the United Nations. Thank you so much for talking to us.
DOMINGUEZ: Thank you.
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
Read the full story at NPR ↗
This lens runs the verified story through Cinnamon's AI — wired in the next step.
- The Strait of Hormuz crisis is leaving thousands of crew members on commercial ships stranded.
- Arsenio Dominguez, head of the UN's International Maritime Organization, explains
How we verified this · single source · not yet corroborated
The thread
- The push to bypass the Strait of Hormuz
- U.S. revokes Iran oil waivers after attacks in Strait of Hormuz
- U.S. strikes Iranian targets in Strait of Hormuz for 2nd straight day
- US attacks oil tanker in strait of Hormuz as strikes reported in Tehran
- Chaos and confusion bring US no closer to resolution on strait of Hormuz
- Strait of Hormuz 'faultline' exposes weakness of the US-Iran deal