This CCTV image shows the moment the South Korean-flagged oil tanker MT Hankuk Chem was captured by an Iranian Revolutionary Guards speedboat (in the red circle) in the Gulf’s Strait of Hormuz on Jan. 4, 2021, over the ship’s alleged oil pollution. The ship’s operator denied the allegations. (Yonhap)
Some time yesterday, Iranian naval forces boarded and seized the South Korean flagged Hankuk Chemi, a chemical tanker. The vessel, which was traveling from Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates, was carrying 20 crew members — five South Koreans, 11 Myanmarese, two Indonesians and two Vietnamese.
The official Iranian line is that the tanker was polluting Iranian waters, but the tankers operators deny this. Most international experts agree that the seizure is an attempt by the ayatollahs to pressure the ROK to release some $7 billion dollars being held by South Korea as part of the US sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
South Korea have deployed their elite anti-piracy units to the gulf region in response. “The Cheonghae Unit arrived in waters near the Hormuz Strait earlier in the day. It is carrying out missions to ensure the safety of our nationals,” ministry spokesperson Boo Seung-chan told a regular briefing. The ministry refused to give details, but officials stressed that the unit is not taking military actions for the release.
On the diplomatic front, the South Korean government summoned the Iranian ambassador and call for the immediate release of the tanker. It was announced earlier today that a delegation headed by Koh Kyung-sok, director-general of the ministry’s African and Middle Eastern affairs, was headed to Tehran to pursue a diplomatic solution to the seizure.
The Hankuk Chemi is an oil/chemical tanker laid down in 2000 by Fukuoka Shipbuilding, Fukuoka, Japan. She has a Gross tonnage of 9797 tons and a Deadweight of 17427 tons.