Ships have begun sailing through the Strait of Hormuz under a new scheme by the UN’s shipping agency to evacuate vessels trapped there by the conflict, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The initiative, which has taken months to conclude, will enable hundreds of ships with some 11,000 seafarers stranded in the Gulf to sail through Hormuz, the International Maritime Organization said on Tuesday.

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“Ships have already begun to pass under the plan,” an IMO spokesperson said on Wednesday, declining to provide any details of the vessels that had crossed.

At least two dry bulk ships and one cargo ship have sailed through Hormuz under the scheme in the past 12 hours, LSEG ship tracking data showed on Wednesday.