Five-fold wages and blacklists: The global seafarer cost of US war spillover in the Strait of Hormuz

Merchant ship seafarers now passing through the Strait of Hormuz — the critical chokepoint for global oil transport — are being offered five times their usual wages before agreeing to set sail, on the grounds that refusing to sail could land them on an industry blacklist. According to NPR, the general secretary of the union representing Indian merchant mariners, Manoj Yadav, disclosed the details: "Not once, twice, three times — to transit the Strait of Hormuz, they are paid five times their salary."

Yadav warned that the choice facing seafarers is not voluntary: "There is a possibility of being blacklisted." He described attack scenes reported over the weekend by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre — "small boats surrounding vessels and opening fire with rocket-propelled grenades and even firearms." According to UN statistics, since the US went to war with Iran, nearly 100 vessels have been attacked in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz, causing approximately 24 deaths. NPR's reporting did not disclose the specific start date or the legal authorization basis for this war.

Data provided by the trade intelligence firm Kpler to NPR shows that oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have recovered to approximately 80% of pre-war levels. In other words, while the risk of violence persists, shipping volumes are rebounding — and this rebound is being propped up, through the levers of higher pay and career threats, by seafarers from global South countries such as India.

The Indian merchant mariners represented by Yadav mostly work aboard commercial vessels in the Persian Gulf. The multiples added to their paychecks are the direct pricing of war's spillover; while the blacklist threat exposes the structural violence of the shipping industry in the war economy — workers who refuse to sail into war zones will be punished through the loss of future employment opportunities.

Meanwhile, US President Trump has blamed surging energy prices on the Russia-Ukraine war, but NPR pointed out that "the war with Iran is the dominant factor in high diesel prices globally." When a war aligns with its geopolitical strategy, rising energy costs are seen as an acceptable byproduct; when responsibility falls on an adversary, the same economic cost is repurposed as a political tool.

The burning oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz are the most visible footnote to this war. The White House that decided to launch it does not bear the cost of five-fold wages; the workers on global South decks are paying a life premium for every transit.