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

[Anchor]

Ships inside the Strait of Hormuz have begun to slowly make their way out, but a full return to normalcy is expected to take more time. South Korean vessels have also begun applying for passage, but the actual timing of their departure remains 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.

Vessels are lined up and anchored along the coast.

According to the 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 volume 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 currently submitting passage applications to the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) of Iran.

[Representative of a Small-to-Medium Shipping Company: They told us that within 48 hours from the time of receipt, they would notify us 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 the same time, it is difficult to gauge the actual order and timing of departures.

[Woo Byeong-seon / HMM 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 things return to complete normalcy.]

Once passage is approved, the ships are expected to mainly use alternative routes provided 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 our ships can pass through promptly, but we have not yet received a response."

Iran has hinted at the possibility of imposing additional costs in the form of insurance fees. While the shipping industry is currently focused on safely extracting their vessels, they are closely monitoring the issue of potential cost burdens.

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