Approximately 100 ships registered in Hong Kong, owned or operated by Hong Kong companies, are stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, with about 2,300 sailors on board, said Richard Hex, chairman of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association.
“We are talking about 100 ships and considering that each of them has approximately 23 sailors, that means there are 2,300 sailors stranded on Hong Kong ships“, he was quoted as saying by the South China Morning Post.
“If you have a ship stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, trying to get it out is highly risky because there is a high probability someone to open fire on it“, he added.
He believes the industry's top priorities right now are providing food and drinking water to crew members, as well as emotional support.
“Very few ships are damaged, but the psychological stress that sailors experience when they see these attacks or read about a serious attack by the United States or Iran is very strong,“, Hext said.
China is calling for the rapid restoration of unimpeded passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.