The International Maritime Organization temporarily halted a plan to move stranded vessels through the Strait of Hormuz after a ship that had crossed the waterway was attacked in the Gulf of Oman, according to an account published on June 25, 2026.

IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said the attacked vessel had not traveled under the agency’s evacuation framework. He paused implementation while officials reconfirmed safety guarantees for ships on the evacuation list and others in the region.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said a cargo ship off Oman was struck by an unidentified projectile, damaging its bridge. No casualties were reported, and the vessel was not named.

The suspension added to uncertainty over competing transit routes. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Navy warned that ships not using an Iranian-approved path near the country’s coastline faced unspecified action. It described other transit as dangerous and prohibited while criticizing a newly announced route that it said had been established without advance coordination with Iran.

Traffic remains far below prewar levels

Some vessels continued using the route along Oman. NBC News, citing MarineTraffic data, reported that the Liberian-flagged Stoic Warrior and British-flagged World Prize appeared to follow it. About two dozen ships had taken the Omani route since 5 a.m. ET that Thursday, although at least three exiting vessels turned back.

The IMO had announced an effort to evacuate roughly 11,000 seafarers after saying it had obtained necessary safety guarantees. Its data showed that approximately 57 ships carrying an estimated 1,100 seafarers had passed under the plan by Thursday morning.

Kpler estimated that more than 70 vessels had crossed the strait since Wednesday, compared with more than 130 each day before the war. The marine-tracking firm also calculated that about 35 million barrels of oil had left the region through the waterway since the US-Iran agreement was signed.

That initial 60-day agreement included reopening the trade route, but Washington and Tehran publicly disputed its terms. Outstanding issues included traffic management and the removal of mines purportedly laid by Iran. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the strait’s waters did not belong to any state and rejected any country’s right to charge for passage through international waterways. Iran had reportedly collected tolls for weeks on its recommended route, while President Donald Trump said Tehran had told Washington after the deal that it was not seeking tolls.

Hapag Lloyd said all of its previously stranded vessels had safely left the Gulf after security assessments and coordination with authorities and its crews. Wider movement nevertheless remained limited. Halvor Ellefsen of Fearnleys Shipbrokers said observed cargoes were largely existing inventories rather than fresh Gulf loadings.

Brent crude was trading near $72 a barrel that Thursday, down from an April peak of $126. Ellefsen cautioned that a meaningful recovery in Gulf production would take weeks, while Lloyd’s List Intelligence said tankers appeared to be using the agreement’s 60-day window to move crude before the reopening expired.