Thai Court Weighs Damages for Strait of Hormuz Ship Crew
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Thailand's Labour Court accepted a petition Friday from three Thai sailors seeking damages after their cargo vessel was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz in March, during the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
- The sailors seek at least 1 million baht ($30,000) each from companies and agencies linked to vessel owner Precious Shipping and its captain, accusing their employers of taking them into dangerous areas and leaving them unable to continue working.
- All three sailors have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and are unlikely to work at sea again, according to their lawyer Kunpat Singhathong, though no medical reports were made public.
- Three crew members died and 20 were rescued after two projectiles struck the Thai-flagged Mayuree Naree on March 11, after Iran's Revolutionary Guards had warned that any ship transiting the strait would be targeted following the February 28 U.S.-Israeli strike on Iran.
- Precious Shipping told the Stock Exchange of Thailand it has not been served with any court documents and insisted it fulfilled its contractual obligations, having already paid two months' wages and compensation for lost belongings.
- Plaintiff Noppadon Wongsuvan, 33, said the compensation was inadequate and not up to international standards, while co-plaintiff Panithi Tumkaew, 43, said he must take sedatives to sleep and gets frightened by loud noises.
- Al Jazeera's coverage title points to Strait of Hormuz traffic plunging as U.S.-Iran fighting resumed — an economic-disruption angle the dominant legal-case framing in Bangkok Post and Reuters only hints at by calling the strait "a vital waterway for oil and gas exports."
Why it matters: The case puts a legal price tag on a wartime transit corridor: three sailors with PTSD seeking roughly $30,000 each from a publicly listed Thai shipowner argues employers knowingly sent crews through an active combat zone after Iran's Revolutionary Guards publicly warned all ships would be targeted. If other crew members or surviving families from earlier Strait of Hormuz attacks follow this template, Precious Shipping and similar operators could face cascading liability for routing decisions made during the conflict.
