Sinokor Group, the world's largest owner of supertankers, has begun offering seafarers an extra six months of pay to complete a single round trip through the Strait of Hormuz, according to a document distributed late last week and reviewed by Bloomberg. The offer covers a voyage of roughly one month to load crude in Saudi Arabia or Iraq and discharge it in the Gulf of Oman.
The bonus reflects the scale of the risk crews are being asked to take. At least 59 commercial ships have come under attack in and around the Persian Gulf since the war began at the end of February, and 17 seafarers have died, according to the UN shipping agency. Two more mariners were killed last week and a merchant tanker was abandoned on Monday after being struck by an unknown projectile near the strait.
Pay across the industry has jumped since the attacks intensified. A ship captain can earn as much as 15,000 dollars a month on an oil tanker, while a junior rating typically earns around 1,500 dollars in normal times. Crews retain the right to refuse a voyage and ask to be replaced before a vessel enters the danger zone, and some are still turning down the bonuses.
Sinokor has become a central conduit for Middle Eastern crude, having built the largest non Iranian supertanker fleet with backing from MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co. The firm has been particularly active in lifting barrels from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Other operators are offering smaller bonuses, in some cases adding up to 60 days of salary to a 30 day contract, according to two people involved in crewing tankers on the route.
Visible traffic through the strait has thinned in recent days, though the true volume is unclear because some vessels are sailing with satellite signals switched off. The Sinokor offer, made before Monday's fresh attacks on merchant shipping, shows how the tension in Hormuz is now being priced not only into freight rates and insurance premiums but into the wages of the people on deck.