Common Questions

What is the IMO?: The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is a United Nations specialised agency founded in 1948 and based in London. It sets international safety, security, and environmental standards for shipping, covering roughly 90% of world trade by volume, with 175 member states but no independent enforcement powers.Source: IMO
How many seafarers are stranded in the Hormuz blockade?: The IMO recorded 20,000 seafarers stranded in the Persian Gulf as of 10 March 2026, mostly from the Philippines, India, and Bangladesh. By late March, the organisation reported more than 3,000 vessels stranded across the Middle East.Source: IMO
Can the IMO stop the Hormuz blockade?: No. The IMO can document violations and issue condemnations but has no enforcement mechanism of its own. SAFE passage can only be compelled by the naval powers involved, which in the current conflict are operating unilaterally in the strait.Source: IMO
What is the difference between the IMO and the UN Security Council on Hormuz?: The IMO tracks humanitarian and safety data and issues condemnations; the UN Security Council holds binding enforcement authority but has been deadlocked over the Iran conflict. Without Security Council backing, the IMO cannot compel action from the states blocking or policing the strait.Source: IMO
How many ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz?: According to the IMO's tally since 28 February 2026, 10 vessels had been attacked and 7 seafarers killed by 10 March 2026. A subsequent wave saw six commercial vessels struck within a 14-hour window across 200 kilometres of water from Hormuz to Iraq's Basra terminal.Source: IMO

Background

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is a United Nations specialised agency founded in 1948 and headquartered in London. It sets binding safety, environmental, and navigational standards for the global shipping industry, covering roughly 90% of world trade by volume. Its 175 member states give it universal reach but no enforcement powers of its own.

Since the Hormuz blockade began on 28 February 2026, the IMO became the principal multilateral body tracking the crisis. Its tally recorded 10 vessels attacked, 7 seafarers killed, and 20,000 stranded in the Persian Gulf, mostly from the Philippines, India, and Bangladesh . By late March, over 3,000 vessels remained stranded across the Middle East . Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz dropped 90% from pre-war levels.

The IMO embodies a structural contradiction: it can document violations and convene member states, but enforcement depends on naval powers already engaged unilaterally in the strait. While Dynacom and other Greek owners ran tankers through at $440,000 per day in charter rates, the IMO issued condemnations with no mechanism to compel safe passage . Whether the rules-based maritime order survives a prolonged conflict over a chokepoint carrying a fifth of global oil is the open question.

How the World Sees Them

Iran

Iran has not engaged with IMO condemnations and characterises the blockade as a legitimate security measure. Tehran has declined all calls for safe-passage corridors, treating shipping disruption as leverage in the broader conflict with the United States and Israel.

Greece

Greek shipowners control roughly 20% of global tanker tonnage and face the sharpest commercial exposure to the Hormuz closure. Operators such as Dynacom continued running ships through the strait with armed guards and AIS transponders switched off, operating outside IMO safety norms.

Philippines

The Philippines is the world's largest seafarer-supplying nation, with nationals making up the single largest cohort among those stranded in the Persian Gulf. Manila has pressed the IMO for urgent repatriation coordination as the blockade entered its second month.

United Nations

The UN views the IMO as its primary institutional voice on maritime humanitarian law, but Security Council deadlock has left the IMO without political backing to enforce its condemnations. Calls for safe-passage corridors have gone unheeded by the states with the naval capacity to enforce them.