Running The Hormuz Gauntlet: Recruitment Ad Offers Tanker Crews Double Pay To Brave Drone Strikes

Flexport founder and CEO Ryan Petersen posted on X what appears to be a recruitment ad from Singapore-based maritime crewing agency Singhai Marine Services, offering a rare look at the pay and “transit” bonuses available to tanker crews transiting the highly contested Strait of Hormuz.

Singhai Marine is recruiting a full crew to operate a VLCC, or very large crude carrier, through the Strait of Hormuz on a Dubai-Oman route. The one-month contract offers salaries ranging from $1,600 for ordinary seamen to $16,000 for the captain.

The offer also includes:

• A separate high-risk allowance
• A “Hormuz transit bonus” equal to one additional month’s full salary
• Tanker experience preferred, with applicants required to accept high-risk deployment

If authentic, the recruitment ad suggests ship operators are having difficulty staffing tankers for Hormuz voyages amid the constant threat of Iranian drone and missile attacks, forcing them to offer substantial hazard bonus.