Iran warned on Thursday that ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz should use only routes designated by Tehran following an attack on a vessel off the coast of Oman.
Routes not approved by Iran were not covered by its guarantee of safe passage, the Port and Maritime General Services Authority (PGSA), the Iranian body responsible for the Gulf, said in a post on X. It added that any consequences arising from the use of unauthorized routes would be the sole responsibility of the shipowner, charterer and captain.
Earlier, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) temporarily suspended its evacuation operation in the strategic waterway, citing security concerns following the attack.
"I have decided to temporarily pause its implementation in order to reconfirm that the necessary safety guarantees continue to be in place for the ships on our evacuation list and all those in the region," IMO secretary general Arsenio Dominguez said in a statement.
He said the decision followed an attack on Thursday on a vessel in the Gulf of Oman that had transited the Strait of Hormuz.
"This vessel did not transit under IMO's evacuation framework," he said.
The London-based UN agency did not provide further details about the ship or the nature of the attack. According to the international shipping association BIMCO, the vessel was a commercial ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz via the coastal traffic zone off Oman.
US media: Iran's IRGC attacked Singapore-flagged cargo ship
"I have always reiterated that the safety of the seafarers remains paramount. Therefore, to ensure a coordinated approach and navigational safety, the evacuation plan will be paused until further clarity is obtained," Dominguez said.
Several US media outlets, citing American officials, reported that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had attacked a Singapore-flagged cargo vessel in the strait. The Washington Post said the ship had been struck by an Iranian drone.
The IRGC said earlier on Thursday that vessels transiting the strait would only be safe if they followed routes designated by Iran. Later in the day, the PGSA said on X that ships using other routes would not be covered by insurance or related liability claims.
The IMO announced on Tuesday that it planned to evacuate more than 11,000 seafarers stuck in the Strait of Hormuz, with the first vessels passing through the waterway later that day.
The strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for global trade, had been effectively blocked for weeks after Iran began threatening and attacking civilian vessels, followed by a US blockade of Iranian ports.
The disruption came in the wake of US and Israeli strikes on Iran. Washington and Tehran have since reached a provisional agreement to end hostilities, with talks on a final peace settlement ongoing.
Shipping traffic through the strait was showing the first signs of normalization on Thursday, analyses from data providers showed, though uncertainty remains over mines that Iranian forces are reported to have laid in the key waterway.
