Oil tanker captains in the Gulf are being paid rates equivalent to $100,000 a month for travelling through the Strait of Hormuz, along with a $50,000 bonus for each trip, as Iran steps up its assaults on vessels. Shipowners were offering the bumper “danger money” to persuade seafarers to stay on vessels as Gulf countries try to keep crude flowing through the crucial strait, according to three people close to tanker owners and crew.
Regular sailors, whose normal monthly salaries can start as low as $1,500, and their captains, whose regular pay is about $15,000 a month, receive double pay while they are in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Oman. But their pay is increased further during each Hormuz transit, with ordinary sailors receiving at least four to six times their normal rates. Because most trips through the strait are made by dedicated tankers on regular “shuttle runs”, sailors can earn the higher rates for months at a time — while enduring the constant risk of Iranian missile and drone attacks.
Among seafarers, those braving the voyage are “almost being viewed as mercenaries”, said one of the people, reflecting the danger of sailing through the strait. Ships braving the waterway are facing one of the heaviest periods of assaults since the US and Israeli attacks on Iran triggered the war in February. At least 14 attacks have taken place since September 20, according to maritime security company Vanguard, including four vessels struck since Saturday.
Freight rates for cargoes being carried through the contested waterway have reached a record of $1.3mn per day this week. Only a handful of ships are willing to make the voyage, shuttling oil in and out to other tankers waiting off Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman. Overall, at least 93 ships have been hit since February 28 and 24 sailors have been killed, according to the International Maritime Organization.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing