The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said on the 1st, "Of the two ships remaining in the Strait of Hormuz, HMM Namu is currently under repair," adding, "It is expected to leave the strait in mid-July when repairs are completed."
Nam Jae-heon, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF), held a briefing at Government Complex Seoul on the morning of the day and said, "As of 9 a.m., there are 35 Korean crew members inside the strait—7 on our two ships and 28 on foreign ships." The remaining two ships are staying due to schedules such as repairs and shipping company circumstances. All Korean ships that wanted to leave have exited the Strait of Hormuz.
Since the outbreak of the Middle East war on Feb. 28, a total of 26 ships have been stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, with 146 Korean crew members on board. Then, on May 20, a domestic crude oil tanker left the strait for the first time, and that ship arrived at Ulsan Port on June 10. Also on the 10th of the same month, a second domestic LNG (liquefied natural gas) carrier additionally left the strait.
Korean ships began to leave the Strait of Hormuz on June 19 after the signing of a peace agreement between the United States and Iran. Vice Minister Nam said, "The United States and Iran announced the application procedure for transiting the strait, and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) quickly provided shipping companies and ships with related information such as the transit procedure, as well as the pros and cons and precautions of available routes, enabling Korean ships to promptly establish their own sailing plans."
He added, "We continued communication with relevant countries for the prompt transit of Korean ships through the strait, and thanks to those efforts, 21 of our ships that had planned to transit at the time were able to exit the strait eight days after the peace talks took effect," and "one additional ship that passed through the strait yesterday also completely moved into safe waters on the day."
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) said it is also responding to uncertainty in crude oil supply due to the Middle East war. Vice Minister Nam said, "To stabilize the national energy supply, we have been supporting the domestic transport of crude oil by Korean ships via Yanbu Port in Saudi Arabia on the inner Red Sea, in cooperation with related agencies such as the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) and industry, since Apr. 17."
He added, "So far, a total of 10 crude oil tankers are loading and transporting about 20 million barrels of crude oil, of which seven have completed entry into Korea, and three ships are sailing to Korea."
Vice Minister Nam said, "The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF), together with the Cheonghae Unit, will monitor the ships in real time around the clock and continue to provide navigation safety information, including incidents of pirate damage in surrounding waters."