The International Maritime Organization announced that the process of evacuating about 11,000 sailors stranded in the Strait of Hormuz region will take several weeks, in light of ongoing efforts to return maritime traffic to normal after a period of security unrest in the vital sea lane.

The Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization, Arsenio Dominguez, said that the evacuation process has already begun, but requires complex logistical arrangements due to the large number of sailors and ships affected by the crisis.

This step comes after the implementation of an international plan to evacuate sailors who were stranded in the region as a result of the decline in navigation traffic and the disruption of naval crew replacement operations during the recent period of tensions in the Middle East.

On the other hand, signs of recovery began to appear gradually in the Strait of Hormuz following the US-Iranian understanding, as ship traffic recorded a noticeable increase over the past days with an increasing number of cargo ships returning to using the shipping lane.

According to data from companies specialized in tracking maritime transport movement, the number of ships crossing the strait has increased to more than 40 ships per day, after it had declined during the height of the crisis to less than 10 ships per day. However, these numbers are still below the normal rates, which were approximately 120 ships per day before the outbreak of tensions.

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most important strategic sea lanes in the world, as about 20% of global oil trade passes through it, in addition to huge quantities of liquefied natural gas and basic raw materials, making it a major axis in global energy security.

In parallel with the resumption of navigation, Iran and the Sultanate of Oman are working to establish new arrangements to manage traffic and maritime services in the strait, amid hopes that the success of the evacuations will constitute an additional indicator of the return of stability to one of the most sensitive sea lanes in the world.