South Korea says a Korean-operated cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz is hit by an explosion and fire, with authorities investigating the cause. Multiple reports cite statements from Seoul’s foreign ministry describing an “explosion and fire” on a vessel operated by a South Korean shipping company, anchored near the United Arab Emirates inside the Strait of Hormuz, with the incident occurring around 8:40pm local time.
Channel NewsAsia and the South China Morning Post report that no casualties have been reported among the ship’s 24 crew members at the time of the announcement. Bloomberg adds that Seoul’s government now confirms the fire is caused by an external strike, marking the first official acknowledgment that the incident may have resulted from an attack. However, Seoul reportedly does not publicly assign blame.
The incident comes amid heightened regional tensions, with one report linking the disruption in the strait to US- and Israeli-related actions against Iran. Seoul says it is looking into what happened, while further details of the circumstances have not been released across the sources.
