Amid the mutual blockade and exchanges of fire in the Strait of Hormuz, South Korea confirmed Sunday night that the cargo ship HMM Namu — which was reported last week to have caught fire near the port of Umm Al Quwain in the United Arab Emirates — was struck by two Iranian drones that hit its stern about a minute apart.
The strikes caused significant damage to the vessel and sparked a fire in the engine room. Iran’s ambassador to South Korea was summoned Monday to the Foreign Ministry in Seoul.
Iran's strike on a Korean ship
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A hole measuring 16 feet wide and 23 feet deep in the ship’s stern
(Photo: AFP PHOTO / SOUTH KOREAN FOREIGN MINISTRY)
The ship, owned by South Korean company HMM, was anchored in the Strait of Hormuz when it came under attack. Initially, the incident was linked to reports of new Iranian strikes launched that same day toward the UAE, but other possibilities later emerged, including a suspected naval mine explosion or a shock wave from a nearby blast.
By Sunday night, the picture had become clearer: Two drones struck the ship’s stern roughly a minute apart. The first strike ignited a fire in the engine room, while the second caused the blaze to spread along the stern. New images published Monday showed a hole about five meters (16 feet) wide and seven meters (23 feet) deep in the rear section of the vessel.
Despite the heavy damage, all 24 crew members aboard were rescued safely and no injuries were reported. The vessel was disabled by the explosion and fire, and a tugboat was dispatched to tow it from the area to Dubai for inspection.
The South Korean government concluded that the attack involved Iranian drones after a special investigative team was sent to Dubai to examine the ship’s damage, evidence from the scene and the source of the strike.
The HMM Namu is a new general cargo vessel delivered to HMM earlier this year. It has a deadweight tonnage of 38,314 tons and is registered in Panama. According to reports, it had been in the Persian Gulf since the start of the war, and before the incident it was reported to have been at the Saudi port of Dammam.
U.S. President Donald Trump wrote after last week’s incident that Iran had “fired several shots” at a South Korean vessel and urged Seoul to join efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran, however, denied any involvement. Iran’s embassy in South Korea said Tehran “strongly rejects and denies” the allegations against it.
Over the past two months, Iran has effectively blocked the passage of non-Iranian vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports, preventing ships from entering or departing them through the strait.
As previously reported, several flareups and exchanges of fire between Iran and the United States have occurred in recent days, including Iranian fire directed at the UAE on Friday. The U.S. military said it struck two vessels linked to Iran that attempted to enter an Iranian port, forcing them to retreat.
After a relatively quiet day in Hormuz, fighting resumed Sunday: A cargo ship was attacked by a drone near Qatar, and the UAE said it intercepted two Iranian drones. Britain’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency reported that a fire broke out aboard the cargo vessel attacked near Doha. The ship’s captain reported no casualties and no environmental damage.
Qatar’s Defense Ministry later confirmed that a vessel arriving from Abu Dhabi was attacked in its territorial waters while en route to the port of Mesaieed.
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the British destroyer HMS Dragon, which was deployed to the Hormuz region
(Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)
At the same time, a Qatari tanker carrying liquefied natural gas was sailing toward the Strait of Hormuz on its way to Pakistan. According to Iranian sources, Tehran approved the voyage in an effort to “build trust” with Qatar and Pakistan, two of the mediators in the ongoing talks. If the tanker reaches Pakistan, it would mark the first passage of a Qatari LNG vessel through the strait since the war broke out on Feb. 28.
Against the backdrop of rising tensions, the commander of the naval arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards was quoted in Iranian media on Saturday as saying that any U.S. attack on Iranian oil tankers or commercial vessels would be met with a “severe attack” on one of the American bases in the region and on “enemy ships.”
“Our missiles and drones are trained on the enemy, and we are awaiting the order to fire,” he said.
Meanwhile, Britain announced Saturday that it would deploy a destroyer to the Middle East to join an international mission aimed at protecting vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz, as part of an initiative led by France and Britain. According to the British Defense Ministry, the destroyer HMS Dragon will be positioned in the region ahead of its “potential role” in the mission, which it described as “defensive and independent.” Until now, the destroyer had been stationed in the Mediterranean to protect British forces based in Cyprus.