Hundreds of Ships Trapped as Strait of Hormuz Shipping Paralyses

A Malta-flagged tanker carrying 1 million barrels of crude oil arrived off South Korea's western coast Friday after passing through the Strait of Hormuz during a period of heightened regional tensions, according to HD Hyundai Oilbank. The Odessa tanker reached waters off Seosan and is scheduled to berth at the company's offshore mooring facility later in the day to unload its shipment, which equals 35 to 50 percent of South Korea's daily crude oil consumption. South Korea last year imported more than 60 percent of its crude oil and 50 percent of its naphtha through the Strait of Hormuz, making the waterway critical to the trade-dependent economy as Iran's control over the passage has jolted global energy markets and caused fuel price spikes. The country has introduced price caps on gasoline and petroleum products for the first time in decades to prevent costs from soaring, while instructing refiners to divert naphtha exports for domestic use and scrambling to secure alternative supplies. In a separate development, Japan's Mitsui O.S.K. Lines confirmed that three of its vessels successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz and exited the Gulf in April without paying any transit fees, adhering to what the company calls a principle of navigation based on international law. Iranian officials have proposed tolls on vessels passing through the strategic waterway, which carries approximately one-fifth of global seaborne crude oil and LNG flows. MOL President Jotaro Tamura stated the company does not intend to pay such fees in the future. The U.S. Treasury has warned that any shipper paying tolls to Iran for passage through the Strait risks punitive sanctions. Meanwhile, a Chinese-owned oil tanker was attacked near the Strait of Hormuz, though the chief engineer says it remains unclear who fired on the vessel. The Marshall Islands-flagged JV Innovation reported a fire broke out on its deck after the bow was hit off the UAE coast near Mina Saqr. Chief engineer Liu Haining, who had disembarked a week earlier, told ABC that no casualties were reported and the vessel remained operational. The 173-meter vessel, carrying 22 crew members including more than 10 Chinese nationals, had been anchored for an extended period after attempting to transit the Strait following Iran's closure. Hundreds of ships and an estimated 20,000 seafarers remain trapped inside the Gulf, with traffic through the strait paralyzed. According to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, there have been 26 total attack reports in the Persian Gulf and around the Strait of Hormuz since the Iran war began on February 28.