Hormuz tanker crews offered large bonuses as transit earnings surge

Tanker crews agreeing to sail through the Strait of Hormuz are being offered sharply higher wages and voyage bonuses as shipowners secure exceptional earnings from the dangerous route, The Maritime Executive reported. The payments extend beyond senior officers, with substantial incentives also reported for ordinary seamen and oilers working aboard vessels making the passage.

Citing the Financial Times, the publication said tanker captains could receive base pay of up to $100,000 a month, alongside a $50,000 bonus for each trip. Other crew members could earn between four and six times their usual salaries. Those reported packages add a financial dimension to the debate over seafarer welfare and safety during the crisis, although the rewards come with exposure to attacks.

The Maritime Executive also cited a Wall Street Journal estimate putting the cost of one Hormuz shuttle voyage at $40 million. According to the report, even very high war-risk insurance premiums leave considerable margins from which owners can pay crews while retaining substantial earnings. The Journal identified a Chinese crewing agency offering oilers and ordinary seamen a bonus of $25,000 per voyage.

The risks remain significant. The Maritime Executive said roughly 30 to 40 vessels were regularly using the waterway and that Iran had not sunk a tanker during the Hormuz crisis. It reported that most passages were completed without interference, while most strikes had neither injured crews nor put ships out of operation. However, it warned that an increase in serious incidents could alter that assessment.

In one recent incident, an LR2 tanker was struck off Oman during an outbound passage, injuring 12 seafarers and requiring a medical evacuation, the outlet reported. The additional crew payments remain much smaller than owners’ earnings, but exceed average salaries in regions supplying seafarers. E.A. Gibson consulting director Richard Matthews told the Wall Street Journal that the bonuses represented a negligible expense for shipowners relative to the millions being earned.