Shipping companies offering sailors 'crazy money' to transit Strait of Hormuz
Oil tanker captains in the Persian Gulf are being paid up to $US100,000 a month to navigate the Strait of Hormuz, industry insiders and maritime unions say.
Shipping companies are offering seafarers up to $US100,000 per month to navigate the hazardous Strait of Hormuz, as tensions between Iran and the United States escalate. The Strait, which handles 20% of the world's oil and gas trade, has seen a surge in attacks from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on tankers attempting to pass through.
Gulf oil producers are desperate to get their oil out of the region due to recent increases in attacks. Facebook ads have shown seafarers in Asia being offered double or triple their usual pay, along with danger money bonuses worth tens of thousands of dollars to work in the Gulf. Captains are receiving pay increases while sailing in the southern Red Sea, the Gulf of Oman, and during each Hormuz transit.
However, the risk of attack is substantial, with at least 24 seafarers killed in 100 confirmed incidents since the war began. The US Navy has taken measures to protect ships and crews, including providing air cover and employing uncrewed service vessels for intelligence and reconnaissance. Despite these efforts, the number of ships transiting the strait remains below prewar levels due to the high risk involved.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
