Seoul has dispatched its anti-piracy unit to the Gulf after Iran seized a South Korean-flagged oil tanker for breaking maritime environmental laws, the South Korean defense ministry says.
“The defense ministry immediately dispatched the Cheonghae unit to waters near the Strait of Hormuz shortly after receiving a report on the situation of Iran’s seizure of our commercial vessel,” the ministry says in a statement.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it seized a South Korean-flagged tanker in Gulf waters “due to the repeated infringement of maritime environmental laws.”
In this photo released Monday, Jan. 4, 2021, by Tasnim News Agency, a seized South Korean-flagged tanker is escorted by Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats on the Persian Gulf (Tasnim News Agency via AP)
It identified the ship as the Hankuk Chemi, which it said was carrying 7,200 tons of “oil chemical products.”
The arrested crew were from South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Myanmar, the Guards said on its website Sepahnews, without giving further details.
— AFP
Is our work important to you?
Does The Times of Israel give you valuable insight into Israel and the Jewish world? If so, please join The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6/month, you will:
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You’re serious. We appreciate that!
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we come to work every day - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
comments