Oil Tanker captains paid $100,000 a month to transit Strait of Hormuz: report

Oil tanker captains navigating the Strait of Hormuz are being paid the equivalent of $100,000 a month, plus bonuses of up to $50,000 for each transit, as shipowners scramble to keep vessels moving through one of the world’s most dangerous energy chokepoints.

The extraordinary packages, described by industry sources as “danger money,” come as Iranian attacks on shipping intensify and Gulf producers work to maintain crude flows through the vital waterway.

According to a Financial Times report citing three people familiar with tanker owners and crew conditions, captains whose normal monthly pay is around $15,000 can now earn roughly seven times that amount.

Ordinary seafarers, who typically start at as little as $1,500 a month, receive double pay while operating in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Oman, rising to at least four to six times their standard rates during actual Hormuz crossings.

Because most voyages are carried out by dedicated tankers on regular “shuttle runs,” crews can collect the elevated rates for months at a time while facing constant threats from missiles and drones.

One source told the FT that seafarers were “almost being treated like mercenaries,” reflecting the level of risk involved.

The surge in crew pay forms part of a much broader rise in the cost of moving oil through the strait.

Freight rates for cargoes travelling the route have climbed to a record about $1.3 million per day this week, compared with $20,000 to $50,000 a day last year.

War-risk insurance premiums for a single voyage can now reach up to $20 million, while bunker fuel prices at Fujairah have risen 67% year-on-year.

Maritime security company Vanguard has recorded at least 14 attacks in the waterway since 20 September, including several vessels struck in recent days.

The International Maritime Organization has verified 93 attacks on commercial ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz since the conflict escalated in late February, resulting in 24 seafarer deaths.

Many ships now transit at night with GPS systems switched off and follow routes closer to the Omani coast under limited protective cover.

Manoj Yadav, secretary-general of the Forward Seamen’s Union of India, said shipowners are either offering large pay packages or pressuring reluctant crews.
Owners have warned some seafarers that they will be replaced if they refuse and that repatriation costs will be deducted from their wages.

“Seafarers are not soldiers,” Yadav has previously stressed amid the mounting toll on civilian mariners.

The Strait of Hormuz, which normally handles about one-fifth of global oil and LNG supplies, remains critical despite reduced volumes.