The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has announced the launch of a special operation to assist in the safe evacuation of over 100 commercial vessels and more than 11,000 crew members stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, following a ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran. However, the evacuation effort has been forced to halt after a Singapore-flagged cargo ship was attacked along the designated route, causing regional shipping to grind to a standstill once more. This development has heightened international concern over how geopolitical conflict is eroding the right of passage and the long-standing tradition of freedom of navigation in this globally strategic waterway.

The Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for global liquefied natural gas and crude oil shipments, handles approximately one-fifth of the world's seaborne oil and gas trade. Since the US and Israel launched military strikes against Iran in late February, this strategic chokepoint has been effectively blockaded. The IMO stated that the evacuation operation was planned in close cooperation with coastal states like Iran and Oman, the United States, and the shipping industry, aiming to guide stranded vessels along a southern route closer to Omani waters, away from the Iranian coastline to the north. However, according to data from the MarineTraffic vessel tracking system, the Singapore-flagged vessel 'Ever Lovely' was attacked while transiting this corridor, forcing the recently resumed evacuation to be suspended.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, Iranian state television (IRIB) reported that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps criticized the evacuation plan, asserting that any routing plan made without Iran's participation is invalid and that only Iran has the authority to decide the passage routes for commercial vessels. Gregory Brew, a senior geopolitical risk analyst at Eurasia Group, commented on this, noting that Tehran is attempting to establish a "new normal" in the Strait of Hormuz, where all transiting vessels must report to and obtain permission from Iran, as a countermeasure against perceived US attempts to diminish its control over the area.

The international shipping community and legal experts have expressed deep concern over the fragmentation of strategic waterways due to geopolitical strife. Todd Huntley, Director of the National Security Law Program at Georgetown University, emphasized that the Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway, and any attempt by a single nation to establish unilateral control or claim ownership severely violates the long-standing international tradition of freedom of navigation. Huntley warned that if unilateral control of the strait by one country gains international acquiescence, it would set a dangerously destructive precedent, potentially leading to similar exclusive control or arbitrary toll risks for other global chokepoints like the Strait of Gibraltar and the Strait of Malacca.

Ami Daniel, CEO of maritime intelligence firm Windward, also issued a warning, stating that if major or regional powers weaponize international waterways for geopolitical gain, it would directly endanger the safety of commercial navigation in other vital waters, including Arctic routes and the Taiwan Strait.

Analyzing the situation, Nitya Labh, a scholar with the International Security Programme at Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs), noted that compared to the Turkish Straits, which are regulated by the Montreux Convention, and the Strait of Malacca, governed by a multilateral treaty, the Strait of Hormuz lacks sufficient international diplomatic safeguards and insurance mechanisms. Labh stressed that existing international law and norms, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), have failed to provide the expected reliable security buffer in the face of geopolitical conflict and armed harassment by non-state actors, such as Yemen's Houthi militia. The international community must now confront the severe structural failure of international shipping rules and maritime law mechanisms in safeguarding the security of global strategic waterways.