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Amid reports that three merchant ships were attacked along with Iranian targets, IMO Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez condemns “reckless attack” in the last two days to several ships transiting the narrow waterway, which is an important channel for much of the world’s energy needs.
The risks are enormous, Guterres warned
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the resumption of attacks and counterattacks between the United States and Iran in the last 24 hours was “worrying” and risked derailing diplomatic progress made since the ceasefire framework was agreed in April.
“A return to full-scale hostilities would have dire consequences for the people of the region, for international peace and security, and for the global economy as a whole.,” said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.
“These reckless attacks once again put innocent sailors in grave danger. No sailor should have to risk his life just to do his job,” Dominguez said, warning flag states, shipowners and operators not to expose seafarers to “unnecessary dangers” while transiting the Strait.
- Renewed Hormuz attacks fuel global energy security concerns
- Guterres warned of catastrophic consequences for the region and the global economy if a full-blown US-Iran war continues
- Thousands of seafarers are still stranded amid shipping disruptions
- The UN warned price and supply instability may worsen
- Heat waves can increase energy demand and strain infrastructure
About 6,000 sailors remain stranded in the channel on hundreds of ships which usually transits at a rate of about 130 a day.
That number has been much reduced now, although the number of shipments was increasing before the latest increase, in line with a temporary ceasefire agreement – which is part of a memorandum of understanding – last month between the United States and Iran.
Responding to this latest escalation, said the UN economic commission for Europe, UNECE that the challenging situation for countries dependent on energy from the Gulf will continueafter more than 100 days of disruption.
“We expect prices and price volatility to remain high and supply disruptions – especially in local markets – to continue over the next few months,” said Dario Liguti, Director of the Energy, Housing and Land Management Division at the UN Economic Commission for Europe.
This senior UN economist explained that although global fuel and fertilizer shortages had been avoided, the impact of disruptions that occurred this year will still be felt “even if the situation returns to normal quickly”. Strategic oil reserves are also at their lowest level for decades, Liguti stressed.
“If instability persists, we must prepare for further price increases and raw material shortages on a larger scalehe said UN News.
Heat waves fuel uncertainty
A further complication that exacerbates these shocks is this summer’s extreme heat wave, triggered by a strong El Niño that is expected to get stronger in the coming months and “increase energy consumption for cooling, impact energy infrastructure, and affect the availability of water for cooling power plants”, explained Mr. Liguti.
To address these impacts – including on public transport networks – UNECE officials stressed the need to build resilience to new energy shocks, make energy savings through efficiency measures, reduce pressure on limited resources by reducing overall energy consumption and stockpile energy reserves.
“In the long term, we also see renewed interest in many countries to invest in domestic energy production and distribution capacity as well as renewable energy,” said Liguti.
