Head of the International Maritime Organization: IMO Ready for Operational Action to Restart Transit Through Hormuz

The Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Arsenio Dominguez, has called on countries to return to diplomacy to restore the safety of navigation, as the US–Iran war continues to threaten the world’s key maritime routes.

“We are ready to put into practice any necessary action — operational action — to restart transit through the Strait of Hormuz. But for that we need the strait to be safe,” Dominguez told Al Jazeera on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

He said the shipping talks under way at the UN are “the beginning of diplomacy again,” expressing hope that diplomatic channels could produce a way out of the maritime transport crisis.

“The more that shipping is targeted across the globe, the more difficult it will be for everyone in the world,” the IMO chief warned, as traffic through Hormuz remains far below pre-war levels and energy prices rattle economies.

The statement comes as international pressure mounts for the strait’s reopening, through which passes around one-fifth of the world’s seaborne oil.

Source: Al Jazeera