UN shipping agency announces evacuation of 11,000 seafarers stranded in the Gulf The UN shipping agency said on Tuesday that an evacuation plan for 11,000 seafarers onboard 500-600 ships stranded in the Strait of Hormuz is currently under way after months of waiting. “This large-scale operation will be carried out in close cooperation with Iran, Oman, coastal States, the US and industry,” Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organisation, posted to social media, adding that he had obtained the “necessary security guarantees”. This comes after maritime tracking data found traffic on Monday through the strait reached its highest level since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran began.