The pressures on seafarers on ships stranded by the war in the Persian Gulf, approaching its 15^th week, may be rising because they now have internet access, giving them real-time information about attacks, says The New York Times. Some are watching livestreams of attacks happening around them; others are actually watching explosions from their ship decks.

The number of ships managing to dodge the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, one way or another, has increased in recent days -- U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on June 9 that ship traffic in the Gulf and oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz are rising. But that still leaves hundreds of ships facing the tough choice of risking a run for it, or remaining stuck for weeks or months more, with moldering cargoes and dwindling food and water for crew. The estimates of how many seafarers are therefore stranded has varied between 11,000 and 20,000.

Worse, three commercial vessels have been hit by U.S. missiles this week, including two Indian ships, killing three Indian crew members. That brings the number of seafarers killed since the start of the war to 14. The Times reports that, altogether, there have been 46 attacks on international ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz since the war began on February 28 Most have been carried out by Iran but, notably, some have come from the U.S., which has threatened any nations acceding to Iran’s demands for payment for safe passage. India, which is heavily reliant on energy supplies through the strait, has been negotiating separately with Iran to allow its tankers to pass through safely.

Shipowners, frustrated by the on-again-off-again negotiations between the U.S. and Iran to open the strait, are speaking more openly in support of paying safe-passage fees. Last week, Evangelos Marinakis, chairman of Capital Maritime & Trading, speaking at the TradeWinds Shipowners Forum during the Posidonia 2026 conference in Athens, said paying transit fees to countries bordering the strategic passage would be a far better solution for shipowners than seeing the seaway closed – or than years of war risk premiums they have been paying without a war, reports The National Herald. But most shipowning companies and nations are holding firm, saying charging safe-transit fees is against international law (and are no doubt fearful of U.S. sanctions, or worse, if they pay those fees.)

As bartering between the U.S. and Iran continues, the opening of the strait remains Iran’s most valuable bargaining chip; one it seems eager to retain after seeing the drastic effect its closing has had on world trade. On June 12, the Guardian reported that Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), despite a potential imminent memorandum of understanding to end the war, Iran will not surrender its control of the strategic waterway, and the U.S. will have no role in its future management.