Shipping leaders welcomes US-Iran ceasefire, seek safe evacuation in Strait of Hormuz

IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez welcomed the two-week ceasefire in the Middle East and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz agreed yesterday, issuing a statement that read as follows:

"For the health and wellbeing of seafarers and the global shipping industry, I welcome the ceasefire announced in the Middle East. I am already working with the relevant parties to implement an appropriate mechanism to ensure the safe transit of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. The priority now is to ensure an evacuation that guarantees the safety of navigation."

Thomas A. Kazakos, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), said: "We welcome the conditional ceasefire between the United States and Iran and hope this signals a beginning of a return to stability in the region. 

“This news will be a relief to the 20,000 seafarers who have been at the forefront of this crisis. Our thoughts remain with those civilians and seafarers who have already been injured or sadly lost their lives. 

“An immediate return to freedom of navigation is now essential, and states should work with shipping to ensure orderly and unimpeded transits through the Strait. This will require coordination between industry and nation states from both inside and outside the Gulf region and ICS is willing to assist this process is any way we can."

BIMCO commented that ships trapped in the Gulf would be interested in leaving as soon as it is safe to do so, adding that the shipping industry is currently awaiting technical details from the US and from Iran on how to transit the Strait of Hormuz safely.

Leaving the Gulf without prior coordination with the US and Iran would entail heightened risk and would not be advisable, it stressed. Also, to avoid unnecessary navigational risks, an uncoordinated exit is not advisable.

On the eve of the ceasefire agreement, Clarksons Research had issued a latest analysis of the situation in the Middle East Gulf and its impact on shipping markets.

Around 3,300 vessels are still in the Gulf, it said, representing 2% of global tonnage, with an estimated value of $41bn, Excluding local traffic - about 2,100 vessels, including some 1,100 offshore vessels and 300 general cargo ships - around 8% of VLCC tonnage and 3% of product tanker / VLGC tonnage remained ‘stuck’ in the Gulf.

Transits through the Strait of Hormuz have increased slightly but are still 90% down on pre-conflict levels, having averaged 11 per day over the last five days compared to around 125 pre-conflict, with non-mainstream vessels accounting for about 60% of transits.

Tanker earnings are at exceptionally strong levels, with average VLCC earnings at $201,000/day, while Suezmax ($303,000/day) and Aframax ($268,000/day) earnings have softened marginally from late March but remain close to record highs. The product tanker market also remains very strong (but unbalanced regionally and driven by rates in the Atlantic / West), with global MR earnings standing at $62,000/day.

Gas carrier rates have also eased marginally, says Clarksons Research, but remain strong, with LNG carrier spot rates standing at $88,000/day, over twice the 2025 average of $37,000/day, while VLGC earnings on the US-Japan route stand at $73,000/day, 25% above the (strong) 5-year average.

The bulkcarrier market, where average earnings are $16,000/day, has continued to see generally regional rather than global impacts from the conflict in the Middle East, although volatile bunker prices have continued to make finalising transactions difficult.

Container markets have seen improved sentiment since the start of the conflict, with freight rates lifted by higher bunker costs. The SCFI Far East – Europe rate rose 20% across March before easing for the first time since the conflict began last week, by 3% to $1,650/TEU - still well below prior peaks of >$8,000/TEU during the Covid-19 pandemic and >$5,000/TEU in 2024.