Eight vessels operated by Korean shipping companies that had been stranded inside the Strait of Hormuz cleared the strait, reducing the number of remaining ships to five.
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said Thursday that "the vessels passed to the outer side of the strait as of 9 a.m. Thursday." The eight vessels that transited carried 37 Korean crew members, with one of the ships bound for a domestic destination.
With this departure, the number of Korean vessels remaining inside the strait fell to five. This figure includes the HMM Namu, which was struck early last month and is under repair at the port of Dubai. Excluding the one vessel under repair, the remaining ships plan to transit sequentially in accordance with consultations with relevant nations and their own operational schedules.
The number of Korean crew members remaining inside the strait totals 47, comprising 17 aboard Korean vessels and 30 aboard foreign vessels.
The ministry said it "supported safe operations through diplomatic assistance via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, along with real-time monitoring and the provision of transit information." It plans to support the five remaining vessels by providing transit-related trends and information to back shipping companies in establishing their own operational plans and ensuring safe passage.
Meanwhile, although vessel departures have continued following the U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement, the situation within the strait remains tense. A Singapore-flagged cargo ship using the Oman route was reportedly struck by a drone attack the previous day, prompting the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to provisionally suspend its plan to withdraw vessels from the strait.
Korean vessels are reported to be generally exiting the strait via the Iranian-side route following consultations with Iran.
