HONG KONG, May 10. /TASS/. Roughly 100 vessels registered in Hong Kong or owned or managed by Hong Kong companies have become stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, with about 2,300 seafarers on board, Richard Hext, chairman of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association, said.

"So if it’s 100 ships, and you calculate about 23 seafarers on each ship, then that is 2,300 seafarers who are stuck on the Hong Kong ships," the South China Morning Post quoted him as saying. "If you have a ship that is stuck inside the Strait of Hormuz, it’s very risky to try and sail it out, because there’s a chance that someone will fire at the ship," Hext added.

In his view, the industry’s main priorities at the moment are ensuring that crew members have food and drinking water, as well as providing emotional support. Hext said that very few ships had been damaged, but that the psychological strain experienced by seafarers seeing the attacks or reading about a major attack by the US or Iran was very severe.

China is calling for the swift restoration of unimpeded passage for vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.