The members of the Cheonghae Unit Choi Young-ship perform their mission on the 10th anniversary of the dispatch in March 2019. Photo courtesy of the Navy, News1
A Korean national chemical carrier was captured by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards on the morning of the 4th (local time), while the Cheonghae unit’s Choi Young ship (4400t class) arrived in the waters near the Hormuz Strait.
A government official said on the 5th, “The Cheonghae unit arrived at the sea area near the Strait of Hormuz this morning (Korean time) and began to perform the mission.”
The Cheonghae Unit 33rd Jin Choi Young-ship was dispatched to the waters near the Hormuz Strait shortly after receiving the situation that the Korean national ship “Korea Chemi” was captured by Iran while performing an operation in the waters south of Muscat Port in Oman.
Choi plans to respond to the situation by working closely with the Combined Naval Command (CMF) in Bahrain, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.
Earlier, an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “We are requesting to confirm the safety of seafarers and to cancel early detention of ships.”
The Ministry of Defense said, “Immediately after receiving the situation related to the detention of Korean merchant ships by Iran, the Cheonghae unit was immediately dispatched to the waters near the Strait of Hormuz.”
A total of 20 people were on board, including 11 Myanmarians, 2 Indonesians, and 2 Vietnamese, including 5 Korean sailors, including the captain, 1st to 3rd class navigators and engine managers.
The picture shows the Korean Chemie captured on the high seas and headed to Iran Port by CCTV. The circle on the right shows the high-speed boat of the Revolutionary Guard. yunhap news
Earlier on the morning of the 4th, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards issued a statement and announced that they had captured the Korean national ship’Korea Chemie’ in the Gulf waters (Persian Gulf).
The Revolutionary Guard argued that “this measure is due to repeated violations of marine environmental regulations by the vessel.”
He added, “The vessel contained 7200 tons of chemicals,” he added. “The sailors are Korean, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Myanmar nationals, and the Korean Chemie is being detained in the southern Port of Bandar Abbas.”
“The capture of the vessel was at the request of the Prosecutors’ Office of Hormuz State and the Maritime and Port Authority,” he said. “This case will be handled by the judicial authorities.”
However, DM Shipping, a shipping company, refuted the reason for the seizure suggested by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, saying that it did not cause environmental pollution.
An official from the shipping company explained, “Three months ago, a close inspection was conducted, and even the discarding of water is filtering out microorganisms.”
In addition, he said, “I will be able to find out whether it is environmental pollution or anything, but I think it can be resolved within a day.”
On the other hand, Choi Young ship is made up of 300 people, including a checkpoint and search team consisting of special warfare (UDT) soldiers and aviation unit soldiers operating a maritime operation helicopter (LYNX).
On January 21, 2011, when Choi Young-ham was performing his first mission to dispatch troops to the 6th Army of the Cheonghae Unit, the’Aden Bay Dawning Operation’ and April 21 of that year rescued all 21 crew members of Samho Jewelry who were captured by pirates. The’Operation to rescue the Hanjin Tenjin crew’ was successfully carried out.
It is known that this is the first time a Korean ship has been put into operation to perform an operational mission in response to the situation in Iran.
Reporter Bae Jae-seong [email protected]