Crews Refuse to Cross Hormuz as an LNG Carrier Waits for Weeks off Pakistan

The Al Ruwais, a 314-metre liquefied natural gas carrier flying a Bahamian flag, has been sitting adrift off the coast of Pakistan for weeks. Fearing for their safety, its 34-member crew does not want to attempt a crossing of the Strait of Hormuz, despite demands from the ship's owners.

An electrician aboard the UAE-owned vessel told Euronews that the company would send the ship through if it could, but a crossing would require the entire crew to agree — and they do not. He said he was waiting to leave by boat for Pakistan, where he would board another vessel. In his words, it struck him as strange that the company was willing to risk the ship just to pass through the strait.

Under maritime regulations, the right to refuse transit into a designated warlike area is individual, meaning one sailor objecting is enough to stop a vessel from moving into a danger zone. It is that rule which is holding the Al Ruwais where it is.

On ships whose crews do agree to cross, companies have offered captains up to $100,000 a month plus $50,000 risk bonuses, while ordinary crew wages have risen four to six times. Some sailors receive as much as $10,000 extra, though the sailor aboard the Al Ruwais noted that not everyone gets the same amount, and that it depends heavily on position and base salary.

His objection was not only about the size of the money but about fairness. He argued that everyone should receive the same amount, because otherwise it would mean a captain's life is worth more than a deckhand's.

The strait, a vital waterway for the world's energy trade, has been under two concurrent naval blockades since the outbreak of the Iran war following US-Israeli strikes in late February. The southern corridor near Oman is patrolled by US forces, while the northern route passes through Iranian-controlled waters. The IRGC Navy has said vessels using routes it considers unauthorised face what it described as punitive action.

Traffic through the strait has collapsed as a result. More than 125 vessels passed daily before the war; according to ship-tracking firm Kpler, that figure has fallen to fewer than 10 to 12 a day — a drop of more than 90 percent.

Drone attacks, sea mines and strikes from unknown projectiles have driven the decline, with UK Maritime Trade Operations recording multiple incidents involving fires, sinkings and power failures aboard tankers and LNG carriers. Ships that do attempt the crossing have taken to turning off satellite AIS transponders, extinguishing running lights at night and shutting down radio equipment to avoid detection.

The dangers are somewhat different for Iranian sailors. Hamed, a 50-year-old former captain who now runs a maritime management company in Iran, told Euronews that the war has resulted in the deaths of some 95 seafarers in commercial, fishing, passenger, tugboat and offshore support roles, although precise figures have not been officially released. He said ships undergoing repairs in Bandar Abbas had also been struck.

According to Hamed, nearly 60 percent of Iranian ships are sanctioned and forbidden from calling at foreign ports such as India, Pakistan, the UAE, Oman, Kuwait and Iraq. Even Pakistan's maritime borders, where Iranian vessels used to travel, have now been closed to them, he said.

Around 40 percent of southern Iranian seafarers have refused sea assignments, he said, with many shifting to the Caspian Sea to handle increased grain imports from the north. Wages in the south have been raised by 30 to 100 percent: sailors now earn between 50 and 80 million tomans a month, and captains between $1,200 and $4,000.

US forces have boarded Iranian commercial vessels roughly 15 times since the war began, Hamed said, arriving by helicopter and speedboat to inspect cargo for explosives, with no guarantees of safety. He said the US has provided no safe-passage guarantees for Iranian commercial ships, and that aerial or naval drone attacks on Iranian vessels are witnessed every week.

Despite all of this, he estimated that roughly 35,000 Iranian seafarers across approximately 2,000 vessels continue operating in southern waters to deliver wheat, corn and medicine to ordinary Iranians. If the situation deteriorates further, he warned, authorities could be forced to declare a complete shutdown and evacuate coastal facilities. For now, the fate of vessels like the Al Ruwais depends on when this standoff eases.