Ever Lovely was struck, ships are still moving through both Hormuz routes as operators weigh conflicting signals from Iran and the risks of staying put"><br>Ever Lovely was struck, ships are still moving through both Hormuz routes as operators weigh conflicting signals from Iran and the risks of staying put">
Ships keep moving through Hormuz despite strike and suspension of IMO exit strategy :: Lloyd's List
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Strait of Hormuz crisis<br>Middle East and Africa<br>Tankers and Gas
Ships keep moving through Hormuz despite strike and suspension of IMO exit strategy
Discussions between the foreign ministries of Iran and Oman on Monday helped finalise the IMO plan before its abrupt suspension
The IRGC continues to insist that the only legitimate passage through the strait is the northern route under its control
At least four vessels reversed course after the IRGC Navy reiterated its position on the northern route
Traffic through the Omani lane nevertheless continued on Thursday and Friday despite the attack on the Ever Lovely, Iran’s warning and the IMO’s pause on the evacuation plan
26 Jun 2026
Analysis
Joshua Minchin
@JoshMinchin<br>[email protected]
Despite the IMO freezing its evacuation plan after Ever Lovely was struck, ships are still moving through both Hormuz routes as operators weigh conflicting signals from Iran and the risks of staying put
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Source: znm / Getty Images<br>Until the IMO receives guarantees that vessels can transit without fear of being targeted, the plan will remain paused, the organisation’s secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez said.
THE International Maritime Organization’s evacuation plan — developed with Oman, Iran and the US — remains suspended as secretary‑general Arsenio Dominguez again seeks firm assurances that ships using the corridor will not be attacked. Yet traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has continued largely unabated, even after the strike on Ever Lovely and despite the IMO’s decision to pause the initiative.
Singapore-flagged, 2015-built, 8,488 teu Evergreen containership Ever Lovely (IMO: 9629110) was struck by a projectile while transiting the southern route, which hugs the Omani coastline, on Thursday (June 25).
That incident followed a statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy issued that morning, reaffirming that the only legitimate route through the Strait of Hormuz was the northern route it controls.
Speaking to reporters in a press conference on Friday, Dominguez confirmed that Ever Lovely was not transiting as part of the evacuation plan and did not contact Omani authorities as part of that framework.
Instead, it made its own risk assessment to transit the corridor, he said.
Nevertheless, the attack on Ever Lovely was enough to bring the plan to a screeching halt, just days after it began, although vessels continued to sail through the Omani lane on Thursday and Friday despite the attack and the IMO’s decision to pause the plan.
Dominguez confirmed that 115 vessels and around 2,500 seafarers had been able to exit the Middle East Gulf during its short lifespan, though he said those figures did not include some transits that had taken place on Friday morning.
At least four vessels that were heading towards the strait turned back shortly after the IRGC Navy statement on Thursday morning. Three others changed course but ultimately completed their transit, including Panama-flagged, 13,086 dwt product tanker SG Pegasus (IMO: 9494876), which actually switched from the southern, Omani-controlled route to the northern, Iranian-controlled route hours after the IRGC statement began circulating.
Two vessels heading towards or through the Iranian lanes made U-turns on Friday, Lloyd’s List Intelligence data showed.
US President Donald Trump addressed the attack in a social media post on Friday, calling it a “foolish violation” of the ceasefire. He said that Iran shot at least four one way attack drones at ships transiting...