This is the first Korean ship to pass through the strait since the start of the war
The Universal Winner, a Korean-flagged oil tanker. (courtesy MarineTraffic)
One of the 26 Korean vessels stranded in the Strait of Hormuz has passed through the waterway, marking the first such transit by a Korean ship since the outbreak of the Iran war. The South Korean Foreign Ministry announced Wednesday that a South Korean oil tanker with around 10 Korean crew members was continuing its voyage by transiting through the strait. According to information provided by Bloomberg and MarineTraffic, the South Korean-flagged very large crude carrier (VLCC) Universal Winner passed south of Iran’s Larak Island on Wednesday morning, heading to the Gulf of Oman. The tanker, which is loaded with Kuwaiti crude, is bound for Ulsan, South Korea. The vessel is owned by HMM, the Korean company that also owns the Namu, a vessel that was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz on May 4. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun told the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee on Wednesday that the ship was carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil. After remaining in the waters near Qatar, the tanker began to move according to the route suggested by Iran on Tuesday. “The tanker’s voyage was coordinated with relevant countries, including Iran, for the sake of the ship’s safety. No passage fees or other kind of payment was made to Iran,” a Foreign Ministry official stated. The ministry emphasized that the passage of this vessel and the attack on the Namu bore no relation to each other. But some observers suggest that Iran agreed to let the vessel pass through the strait amid backlash over the attack on the Namu and diplomatic pressure from Korea. Tehran had informed Seoul via the Korean Embassy in Iran that it would be possible for one Korean ship to pass through the strait on Monday evening — one day after Cho had demanded Iran’s position on the attack on the Namu from his counterpart, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, during a phone conversation. As for the attack on the HMM Namu, Cho told lawmakers that the likelihood that the airborne object that had struck the vessel was a drone had “decreased,” while saying that the Ministry of Defense-led investigation was reaching its final stages. By Park Min-hee, senior staff writer: Jang Ye-ji, staff reporterPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]Related stories· [Editorial] Fire on Korean ship in Hormuz Strait requires considered response from Seoul· [News analysis] Why Korea is condemning the attack on its ship, but not naming the attacker· Fees and fears of sanctions complicate efforts to free Korean ships in Strait of Hormuz· Korea secures 273 million barrels of oil and up to 2.1 million tons of naphtha, says Blue House· Seoul says ‘several days’ needed to determine cause of explosion on ship in Strait of Hormuz광고Editorial・opinion[Editorial] Crisis averted at Samsung, but society must continue chip profit-sharing debate[Editorial] Seoul and Tokyo should focus on pragmatic cooperation, not countering China[Column] The real lessons of Samsung Electronics’ labor dispute[Reporter’s notebook] The disastrous descent of Trump’s ‘America first’ to ‘America last’[Editorial] The bigger picture of immigration protocol for North Korean women’s soccer team[Column] What’s next for the Korean Peninsula after the Trump-Xi summit[Guest essay] Shame on Korea for revoking pro-Palestine activist’s passport[Column] Rethinking how we represent ‘comfort women’ victims[Correspondent’s column] Watching America roll back voting rights[Column] Leader of Korea's conservative party is handing the ruling party the election
