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Ships trapped in the Gulf are accumulating barnacles, algae and jellyfish as the Middle East conflict drags on and temperatures begin to rise, impeding their ability to eventually exit the region.
At least 800 merchant ships are still stranded in the Gulf following the outbreak of fighting on February 28 with about 20,000 seafarers left on board to perform routine maintenance duties.
But the Gulf’s shallow sandy seabed and warm waters have put ships at anchor or adrift there at risk of sand and sea creatures clogging up gratings that protect the vessel’s internal pipework. Seafarers are also struggling to get hold of critical parts when systems have broken down.
“What happens is that if you don’t move, if the vessels stay out of speed just basically drifting and these are warm waters, you have a lot of fouling growing and that is probably happening for the moment for our vessel,” said Lasse Kristoffersen, chief executive of Wallenius Wilhelmsen, the car carrier company that currently has one ship stuck in the Gulf.
Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive of Hapag-Lloyd, told the shipping line’s podcast recently that the one vessel it managed to transit out of the Strait of Hormuz, which has been in effect shut to most shipping traffic since the beginning of March, had to travel much slower because of the drag created by barnacles.
“The main surprise was the amount of fouling we had on the ship because the ship had been in water of about 30C for six to eight weeks so then you see there was a lot of stuff that gets attached to the ship that you really don’t want to have attached to the ship,” he said.
Hapag-Lloyd told the FT that marine growth and barnacles covered all of the propeller and most of the vertical sides of the ship with about 40 per cent coverage on the bottom.
Habben Jansen said “quite a lot of cleaning” was something the company would have to “bear in mind” for the four ships it had left in the Gulf.
Fouling also increases the fuel consumption of a ship due to the drag it creates on the hull, Kristoffersen said.
Concerns are increasing about the length of time that ships will be stuck in the Gulf as the impasse between the US and Iran over the terms of a peace deal shows no signs of resolution.
US President Donald Trump said last week that a peace deal proposed by Iran was “unacceptable” and that the ceasefire was on “life support”.
Vessels have only been able to pass through the Strait of Hormuz if governments have negotiated bilaterally with Iran to allow them through or if they have paid a toll to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, shipping advisers and executives said.
Concerns about the welfare of both seafarers and ships are increasing as the heat of the Gulf summer arrives as well as sandstorms that occur as a result of the sharp northwesterly Shamal winds that cross the area.
“Shipping is used to managing risk, but this is a uniquely difficult operating environment in the Gulf. The combination of challenging weather conditions, vessel upkeep and the uncertainty of the situation is placing unprecedented pressure on vessels, systems and seafarers alike. Protecting seafarer welfare and ensuring safe, predictable operating conditions must remain the priority,” said the UK Chamber of Shipping.
Manoj Yadav, general secretary of the Forward Seamen’s Union of India, said that seafarers were also struggling to get critical parts for ships.
The GPS of one vessel Yadav had spoken to was not working and they had been waiting 15 days for a replacement part, which should have taken just one or two days to reach them in normal times.
“In this situation the owners are not feeling comfortable to find a charter boat to take the material up to anchorage,” he said.
This adds to the psychological pressure on seafarers who have now been stuck on board static ships for more than 70 days in some cases. For many of them relevant certificates for employment have expired, while others are unable to regularly access the internet and are struggling psychologically, charities have said.
“Their mind is upset because there is no job on board. They are just sitting in their cabin, coming out, there is a shortage of maintenance work, shortage of food. It’s a kind of jail for them,” Yadav said.
Some ship operators have managed crew changes.
Jacob Meldgaard, chief executive of the tanker operator TORM, said that his company had managed to undertake three crew changes on board their vessel that was trapped in the Gulf.
But Habben Jansen said that changes were often “difficult because not that many seafarers are very keen to join those ships with the uncertain outlook that we have at the moment”.
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