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

[Anchor]

While vessels inside the Strait of Hormuz have begun to slowly move out, it is expected to take more time for operations to return to normal. South Korean ships 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 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 passed 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 currently submitting passage applications to the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) of Iran.

[Representative of a Small and Medium-sized Shipping Company: They said they would notify us within 48 hours from the time of receipt, either by granting permission, requesting supplementary documents for any deficiencies, or stating that passage is impossible. So, we are currently waiting.]

HMM, the nation's largest container shipping company, has also completed passage applications for its three vessels 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 Manager: I think the dates the ships want to leave will be quite similar. Since they cannot all leave at once, it will likely take a considerable amount of time before things return to complete normalcy.]

Once passage is granted, the ships are expected to primarily 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 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, and the shipping industry is closely monitoring the cost issue while focusing on safely extracting their vessels for now.

Reported by Lee Seonghun | Video by Bae Moon-san | Video Editing by Jo Moo-hwan
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.