Six-figure salaries for sailors passing through the Strait of Hormuz have been announced

Oil tanker captains are paid $100,000 a month to navigate the Strait of Hormuz. The level of six-figure salaries is called by The Financial Times (FT).

In addition to high salaries, captains are also paid bonuses of up to 50 thousand against the backdrop of intensifying Iranian attacks. Both ordinary sailors and seamen are paid more, with freight rates reaching a record $1.3 million per day. Shipowners face huge costs for military insurance and fuel, while seafarers face risks to their lives and pressure from employers. According to Manoj Yadav, general secretary of the Indian seafarers' union, Forward Seamen's Union, ship owners are either offering seafarers huge payments or threatening to replace them if they refuse, and deduct repatriation costs from their salaries.

According to three sources close to the tanker owners and crews, shipowners have offered generous "fight" pay while the ships are in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Oman, with staff receiving double pay and while sailors are passing through Iranian territory receiving at least four to six times the normal rate.

Since most voyages are carried by special tankers on regular shuttle routes, sailors can receive higher rates for months on end - while constantly being exposed to the risk of Iranian missile and drone attacks. Entry into the Persian Gulf, loading and exit back usually takes about four days. A typical supertanker carries about two million barrels of oil and carries a crew of up to 35 sailors, led by a captain.