Food Bank Cargo Worth $90K Hit in Strait of Hormuz En Route to Toronto
The CEO of Daily Bread Food Bank says products destined for the Toronto organization were on cargo ships that were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz near Iran.
According to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre, three cargo ships were struck by some kind of projectile while passing through the strait on Wednesday. One was identified as a Thai-flagged vessel with 23 crew members on board.
In an interview with CTV News Toronto on Wednesday, Daily Bread Food Bank CEO Neil Hetherington claimed that one of those three ships was carrying food that was intended for the Toronto-based organization.
“Right now, we are purchasing dozens of containers with rice primarily,” Hetherington explained. “I don’t know the number of containers, but it would probably be in the neighbourhood of a half dozen containers. You think about that, and you think about the number of meals that would have provided for for the City of Toronto.”
“Our concern, obviously, is with the sailors that are (in the strait). And then we also want to make sure that the individuals who are supposed to get that food, get it. So, we have some redundancy plans in place so that every single person who was promised a meal by the Daily Bread will get that meal.”
Hetherington added that each container they order costs the food bank about $15,000, so he believes they lost about $90,000 worth of product.
“Our hope is that it was one of the ships that has not actually gone down, but there was a fire on it instead,” he said.
“So, perhaps there aren’t losses, but rather delays. But, a delay means a meal not on the table of somebody that needs it. Our hope is that the sailors are safe and that the food gets to the individuals, and if there are financial losses, we’ll need to absorb that. But in general, we’ve got these things insured.”
Iran has effectively stopped cargo traffic through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all traded oil passes.
At least 12 incidents have been confirmed involving vessels in and around the strait since the Iran war began, according to two global trackers.
The International Maritime Organization says at least seven mariners have been killed.
With files from CTV News Toronto’s Natalie Johnson and The Associated Press
This article was first reported by CTV News
