UN agency pauses Hormuz ship evacuation after vessel attacked

The United Nations’ shipping agency on Thursday paused an evacuation effort to get hundreds of stranded ships and thousands of seafarers out through the Strait of Hormuz after a vessel was attacked in the Gulf of Oman.

"I have been informed of an attack today in the Gulf of Oman on a vessel which passed through the Strait of Hormuz. This vessel did not transit under IMO’s evacuation framework," Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary-General of the UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO), said in a statement.

"I have decided to temporarily pause its implementation in order to reconfirm that the necessary safety guarantees continue to be in place for the ships on our evacuation list and all those in the region."

The initiative, which was launched on Tuesday, was a voluntary option for ships and their crew to sail out of the Gulf using two routes – one via Iranian waters and the other via Omani waters, with US oversight, the IMO said this week.

A cargo ship reported a suspected attack as it attempted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz close to the coast of Oman on Thursday, British navy agency UKMTO said.

The ship reported being struck on its starboard side by a projectile 7.5 nautical miles southeast of Oman's port of Dahit, it added.

"If Iran threatens or blocks ships in the strait, "then we're going to have a problem," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has been on a tour of the Gulf this week, said prior to the incident.

The vessel hit was the Singapore-flagged container ship Ever Lovely, according to British maritime risk management group Vanguard and three maritime security sources.

The incident was deemed an attack based on initial assessments, British maritime security company Ambrey said.

The strike caused damage to the ship's bridge but no casualties or environmental impact, the UKMTO added.