20,000 Sailors Trapped in the Strait of Hormuz as Iran-U.S. Standoff Drags Into Third Month

More than 800 ships carrying roughly 20,000 seafarers have been stranded in and around the Strait of Hormuz for over two months, caught between an Iranian naval blockade and U.S. military operations in an active war zone. The Wall Street Journal spoke to more than a dozen sailors, painting a portrait of a slow-motion humanitarian disaster unfolding aboard cargo ships and oil tankers loaded with billions of dollars in cargo — while the crews themselves run out of food, water, and medicine.

At the center of the story is Shameem Sabbir, a 30-year-old Bangladeshi navigation officer on a Chinese-owned oil tanker, who on day 65 of the crisis was positioned at the very front of the exit queue — close enough to see the faces of Iranian fast-boat pilots enforcing the blockade — yet still unable to move. His ship's remaining provisions: instant noodles, carrots, mushrooms, and cabbage. Iranian officials have told him the area is 'very dangerous and a red zone.' At night, his crew watches 'Titanic' on a laptop.

The U.S. military launched a rescue operation called 'Project Freedom,' using AI-powered drones to clear a pathway through Iranian sea mines, and briefly escorted two U.S.-flagged vessels through the strait on Monday. But the effort was paused after just 36 hours. An American admiral declared forces 'have cleared an effective pathway for ships to leave,' but most captains weren't buying it — insurance premiums have surged up to 32-fold from pre-war levels, with bills reaching $8 million for a single large tanker. Most crews are too afraid of Iranian gunboats and sea mines to break for open water.

At least 10 sailors have died since fighting began, and more than 30 ships have been struck by Iranian drones or missiles. Sailors have shown Journal reporters footage of burning vessels, drone strikes, and gaping wounds. One Indian crew has two members in critical condition with no food or fresh water. A Russian sailor on a 600-foot tanker is surviving on water and rice while battling severe hypertension with no medication. The International Transport Workers Federation has received more than 2,000 help requests, half involving missed pay, roughly 200 involving ships running out of food, fuel, or water. Union coordinator Mohamed Arrachedi says he receives 60 to 70 new WhatsApp messages daily from desperate sailors.

The crisis has spawned opportunistic scammers posing as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, soliciting cryptocurrency transfers from shipping companies desperate to buy passage. Meanwhile, the $500 million superyacht of Russia's richest man, Alexey Mordashov, sailed cleanly through the blockade hours before Iran's Foreign Minister arrived in Moscow to meet Putin — a detail that encapsulates the grotesque inequalities on display in the Persian Gulf. The IMO's secretary-general put it bluntly: 'It's a war zone and shipping is being used as leverage. People take seafarers for granted, they don't value them.'