Hormuz Trade Collapse

UKMTO warns of rising threats to global trade and maritime safety

TDT | Manama

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Shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz has fallen by more than 90 per cent since the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East, according to maritime monitoring experts, raising alarm over global trade disruptions and growing risks to seafarers.

Experts from the Royal Navy-led UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which monitors key waters from its base in southern England, said more than two dozen vessels have been damaged or reported casualties while attempting to pass in and out of the Gulf during the escalation.

Beyond the sharp decline in maritime traffic, UKMTO has warned of a potential humanitarian crisis, with an estimated 20,000 sailors currently affected or stranded in Gulf waters due to heightened insecurity and disrupted shipping routes.

The centre, which functions as both an emergency contact hub for seafarers and an information service for shipping companies, also cautioned that global attention on the Strait of Hormuz could create conditions for a resurgence of piracy off the coast of Somalia.

Established after the 9/11 attacks in 2001, UKMTO has become a key coordination point for maritime safety across the Red Sea, Gulf waters and northern Indian Ocean, earning a reputation among governments and shipping operators for rapid and impartial reporting.

The region had only recently seen a return to relative stability after earlier waves of Somali piracy in the late 2000s and renewed attacks on commercial shipping by Houthi rebels in late 2023 disrupted key sea lanes. That fragile recovery is now again under threat.