The Broken System That Keeps Shipping Crews Stranded in the Strait of Hormuz | WIRED

CommentLoader-

Save StorySave this story

CommentLoader-

Save StorySave this story

When conflict disrupts global shipping routes like the Strait of Hormuz, vessels don’t always leave. Sometimes, they can’t. Across key maritime corridors in the Gulf region, ships have become stranded—some due to escalating hostilities, others because of a less visible failure: a global shipping system where ownership, regulation, and responsibility often do not align.

For the people working on board, that failure can mean being unable to leave.

A seafarer from Kerala, India, PK Vijay had taken out a loan for what he believed would be stable work at sea. His promised monthly salary was meant to support his family back home. “I was told I would be working on a ship,” Vijay says. “But when I got here, I was assigned to a scrap vessel.” He was told he would be transferred to another vessel.

Months passed. The transfer he was promised never came. According to Vijay, both the agent who facilitated his employment and the ship’s owner eventually stopped responding to his calls. More than a year later, he says he has not been paid.

“I have finished my contract, but have not been paid a single rupee. It has been 14 months. And they won’t even let us leave,” he says.

The two-member crew of the Mahakal has not heard from the owner in over a year, nor have they been paid for their labor. Without an official “sign-off” letter from the ship owner, Vijay says he cannot legally disembark or return home.

Caught in the System

Since the start of the conflict in the region, many civilian ships have found themselves in the crossfire. This has been compounded by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran, essentially trapping ships in their positions and leaving them vulnerable to attack.

For crews on board, immobility carries risk. “Thankfully, there have been no attacks or incidents close to us,” Vijay says. “But we are living in fear.”

Since the start of joint US and Israeli attacks on Iran, around 1,900 commercial vessels have been stranded in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz, particularly in the Arabian Gulf.

INFOGRAPHIC: GETTY IMAGES

According to the International Maritime Organization, at least 18 incidents involving attacks on ships were reported in the region up to March 24, with fatalities and injuries recorded.

For an estimated 20,000 seafarers and port workers operating across the region, the risks have increased. For those already stranded on vessels, options are limited.

Built Across Borders

Modern shipping often spans multiple jurisdictions: A vessel can be owned in one country, registered in another, managed by a third party, and physically located elsewhere.

Under normal conditions, that complexity keeps global trade moving. In times of crisis, it can leave workers in limbo—particularly on vessels that are poorly regulated or effectively abandoned.

In practice, cases like Vijay’s fall into a legal gray zone. Ships can be owned, registered, and operated across different countries, leaving no single authority clearly responsible when something goes wrong. Even when contracts end, seafarers often depend on ship owners to sign off their release.

If that cooperation disappears, so does any clear path home. Labor organizations such as the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) say intervention is possible but often depends on coordination across jurisdictions and cooperation from ship owners.

“When the war broke out, we put a Warlike Operations Area Committee in place to address the protection of seafarers in the region,” says John Canias, maritime operations coordinator at the ITF.

The organization has identified certain maritime routes in the region, including the Arabian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, and some parts of the Gulf of Oman as high-risk areas, encouraging ship owners to allow seafarers to terminate contracts if they choose not to operate in those zones, says Canias.

But such measures rely on cooperation from ship owners—something that becomes difficult in cases involving abandoned vessels.

The Rise of Abandoned Ships

Vijay’s vessel, Mahakal, has a documented history of labor issue allegations. Maritime advocacy groups say that it is owned by a private individual and is not officially registered with the International Maritime Organization. This is not an isolated case.

According to the ITF, 2025 saw the highest number of ship abandonments on record, with 409 vessels reported abandoned and more than 6,200 seafarers affected globally. Over 150 of those cases occurred across the wider Middle East region. Indian nationals made up the largest group of abandoned seafarers, followed by Filipinos and Syrians.

Since the escalation of conflict in the region, ITF officials say they have received dozens of distress calls daily from seafarers, particularly those on vessels where owners have ceased communication.

In some cases, ITF documented that the machinery of the ships was destroyed, leavin