“Away from the Gulf of Aden where the pirates appeared”… Iranian capture shipowner “It’s not wrong, so it doesn’t seem to be disadvantaged”

An official from the management company of’Korea Chemie’ (9797t), a Korean chemical carrier captured in Iran, told the JoongAng Ilbo on the 5th, “The Strait of Hormuz is not a dangerous area. There have been no cases where Korean shipments were captured by Iran.”

The official added, “We cannot relax tensions by being arrested in Iran, but if we do not have any faults such as marine pollution, there will be no big disadvantages from Iran.” This means that the situation is different from the pirates’ abduction, where there are many variables such as the safety of the crew’s recruits. But here, an Indian ship was kidnapped by Iran last year, but was investigated and released.

The vessel was captured in the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. It is far from the Gulf of Aden, where Somali pirates and armed robbers usually appear. The Strait of Hormuz is not a target area for escort and convoy by the Allied Navy, such as the Cheonghae unit of Korea, as pirates do not usually appear.

The official said, “If the Iranian side investigates the ship and conducts an interview with the captain, we will soon find out whether or not the Iranian side is claiming marine pollution,” he said.

Hormuz Strait is not a dangerous place, so it is not a target area for escort and convoy by the Allied Navy, such as the Cheonghae unit in Korea. The Cheonghae unit mainly works on the side of the Gulf of Aden, far from the Persian Gulf. This is where Somali pirates and others often threaten our merchant ships. In January 2011, the Navy’s Cheonghae unit rescued the Samho Jewelry from the sea of ​​Aden Bay near Somalia.

Since then, the Cheonghae unit has been dispatched to the Aden Bay area to protect our merchant ships. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries informs each shipping company of the convoy plan of the Cheonghae unit through the ship management association, and requests the Cheonghae unit to escort and convoy when the ship passes through a dangerous area.

An official from the Korea Ship Management Industry Association, which has an office in Busan, said, “The place where the Korean Chemie was captured is the Hormuz Strait, so it does not fall within the convoy planning area of ​​the Cheonghae unit. The association has 158 domestic shipping companies as members. It notifies member companies of business requests and announcements from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and plays a role in requesting policy improvement. It also serves to receive the monthly convoy schedule of the Cheonghae unit from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and notify the shipping company and use it when passing through dangerous areas.

On the 5th, DM Shipping, a shipping company of Korea Chemie, requested an investigation to the International Shipowners Mutual Insurance (P&I) to check the status of ships and crews. A DM Shipping official said, “This is to see if there is an actual maritime pollution problem, as Iran claimed,” and “The company has insurance that can compensate up to $1 billion.” Accordingly, P&I, which performs comprehensive insurance business such as accident investigation for ships and crews, dispatches investigators to check maritime pollution and crew safety.

Earlier, the Korean chemist was captured by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (Navy) while heading for the UAE (UAE) at 3:30 pm (Korean time) on the 4th. The ship has 20 people on board, including five Korean sailors, including the captain, navigator, and chief engineer, as well as foreign sailors (11 Myanmar, 2 Indonesians, and 2 Vietnamese).

It is reported that Choi Young-ship, dispatched after the news of the arrest, arrived in the sea area near Hormuz on the 5th to respond to an emergency.

Busan = Reporter Hwang Sun-yoon [email protected]