Stena ships remain in the Strait of Hormuz: “It has definitely escalated”
Updated 18.33 | Published 18.20
At least four container ships in the Strait of Hormuz have been hit in attacks on Wednesday.
The Swedish Stena Bulk has several ships that are still stuck.
– It has definitely escalated, says CEO Erik Hånell.
Around 100 container ships are stuck in the Strait of Hormuz since Iran closed the possibility of passing through the “valley of death”.
Stena Bulk has a handful of ships that are still stuck and the safety situation for the crew has deteriorated significantly in the last 24 hours.
– We are in continuous contact, several times a day and are trying to get an idea of their situation. It is a tense situation for them, of course, says Erik Hånell, CEO of Stena Bulk.
“The possibilities are decreasing”
The crew must remain on board and the chances of getting the ships out of there right now look minimal.
– The possibility of making any kind of transit for ships that are inside has decreased. It was never really close before, but it has gone in the wrong direction, says Hånell.
Now it is about giving the crew the right information to avoid risking any wrong decisions.
– The biggest wrong decision is probably if you were to go through and something happens. But in between, it is probably that you end up in the wrong place or act on misinformation. There are many scenarios but we are trying to help them manage the situation, he says.
Several ships hit
During the night of Wednesday, at least three container ships were hit by "suspicious but unknown projectiles", writes UKMTO. Two of them started to burn and the crew had to be evacuated.
At lunchtime, a Thai cargo ship was also hit. Three of the crew are missing, the rest were rescued by the Omani navy, writes Al Jazeera.
- It was already uncertain before, but the development that has escalated with the shelling of ships makes the situation more and more uncertain, says Erik Hånell.
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