IMO pauses Hormuz evacuation operation after attack in Gulf of Oman

The International Maritime Organization has temporarily paused its evacuation operation for ships in the Strait of Hormuz region after an attack on a vessel in the Gulf of Oman.

IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said the pause will remain in place until the agency can reconfirm that the necessary safety guarantees are still in place for ships on the evacuation list and for others in the area.

The decision comes after the IMO said it had already moved several vessels out of the region this week under a temporary plan intended to help ships trapped around one of the world’s most sensitive shipping corridors.

Attack triggers pause

According to the IMO, the vessel attacked in the Gulf of Oman was not part of the evacuation framework. AP reported that the ship was struck by a projectile off Oman’s coast and that the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported no injuries or environmental effects.

The fresh attack sharpened concerns about the security of maritime traffic near the Strait of Hormuz, where even limited disruption can quickly affect shipping confidence across a major global energy route.

The IMO did not say when the operation might restart. For now, the agency is waiting for clearer safety assurances before moving any more ships.

Evacuation plan

The temporary evacuation operation had been designed to move vessels through or away from the region in a coordinated way. The IMO said the effort was being carried out with member states and industry.

The agency said several vessels had already been successfully evacuated before the pause. That leaves the remaining ships on the list in a holding pattern while officials assess the risks after the latest attack.

The Strait of Hormuz is a critical chokepoint for global oil and gas shipments, which is why any new security incident there is closely watched by shipping companies, governments and energy markets.

Regional dispute

The evacuation plan has also become part of a broader dispute over navigation rights and regional security. Guardian reporting said Iran’s Revolutionary Guard rejected the IMO- and Oman-backed temporary evacuation lanes as unacceptable and dangerous.

That reporting said the plan involved two temporary routes: one north of the transit separation scheme in mined Iranian waters and another south of it in Omani waters. The disagreement shows how even a safety-focused maritime arrangement can quickly become entangled in sovereignty claims.

Oman has been part of the coordination effort, but the latest pause underscores how fragile the arrangement remains after a new attack in the same wider corridor.

What happens next

The key question now is whether the IMO can restore enough confidence to resume the operation. The agency has not identified who carried out the attack, and the research packet does not identify the type of vessel targeted.

Further developments will also depend on whether Iran continues to reject the temporary routes, and whether additional attacks or threats prompt a wider disruption to traffic through the strait.

For now, the evacuation effort is on hold, the ships already moved remain out of the corridor, and the rest of the operation depends on whether safety guarantees can be reestablished.