25 Vessels Pass Through Strait of Hormuz on First Day of Reopening; Korean Ships Also Apply

[Anchor]

Ships inside the Strait of Hormuz have begun to slowly make their way out, but it is expected to take more time for operations to return to normal. South Korean vessels have also applied for passage, but the actual departure times remain uncertain. There are also concerns regarding the burden of additional costs.

Reporter Lee Seonghun has the story.

[Reporter]

Off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran, near the Strait of Hormuz.

Ships are anchored in lines along the coast.

According to maritime data provider AXSMarine, 25 vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz on the 18th, the first day of its reopening.

While this is a significant increase compared to the fewer than five ships per day that were passing through earlier this month, it is still far from the pre-war level of 120 ships per day.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) estimates that over 500 ships are still remaining in the Gulf region, 24 of which are South Korean vessels.

Domestic shipping companies are submitting passage applications to the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) of Iran.

[Official from a small-to-medium shipping company: They told us they would notify us within 48 hours from the time of receipt, whether the passage is approved, if there are missing documents that need to be supplemented, or if passage is denied entirely, so we are currently waiting.]

HMM, the nation's largest container shipping company, has also completed passage applications for its three ships remaining in the strait.

However, as it is highly likely that many ships will hope to depart at once, it is difficult to gauge the actual order and timing of departures.

[Woo Byeong-seon / HMM Senior Manager: I think the dates the ships want to leave will likely be similar. Since they cannot all leave at once, it will probably take a considerable amount of time until complete normalization is achieved.]

Once passage is approved, the ships are expected to mainly use alternative routes suggested by Iran to avoid the risk of sea mines.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries stated, "We have requested cooperation from the Iranian side through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ensure that our ships can pass through promptly, but we have not yet received a response."

Iran has also hinted at the possibility of imposing additional costs under the guise of insurance fees, and while the shipping industry is currently focusing on safely extracting the vessels, it is closely monitoring the issue of potential cost burdens.

(Video coverage: Bae Moon-san | Video editing: Jo Moo-hwan)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.