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Iran: The Revolutionary Guard stopped a South Korean oil tanker, today, Monday, January 4, 2021, 10:05 pm
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced Monday the arrest of a South Korean tanker for violating “marine environmental laws,” in a move that comes in light of tension with Washington and the latter’s military movements in the Gulf.
Seoul demanded the release of the tanker and the release of its 20 crew members, and announced the dispatch of an anti-piracy unit near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement, the guard stated that his naval force had “arrested a South Korean ship this morning,” according to the website (France 24).
He explained that “this tanker was heading from the port of Jubail in Saudi Arabia, and was arrested after repeated violations of marine environmental laws.”
The website posted a photo taken from the air to stop the ship at sea, showing the tanker and its side, four marine vessels, including three speedboats.
The guard did not specify the place of arrest of the tanker “Hancock Chimi”, with 7,200 tons of “petroleum chemicals” on board.
He confirmed that it is now anchored in the port of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran, overlooking the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil production passes.
The statement referred to the detention of the crew members of South Korean, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Burmese nationalities.
For his part, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Saeed Khatibzadeh, stressed that the ship was legally arrested.
“According to the initial reports we received from the local authorities, the issue is technical, and the ship headed for the coast by order of the court due to sea pollution,” he said in a statement.
“The Islamic Republic in Iran, as in other countries, is sensitive to these violations, especially in terms of pollution of the marine environment, and therefore faces (these issues) within the framework of the law,” he added.
The Guard confirmed in its statement that the arrest was made at the request of the Maritime Organization of the Governorate of Hormuz (southern Iran) overlooking the Strait of Hormuz, and based on a signal from the Attorney General of the province.
The Iranian news agency (Tasnim) quoted the organization’s deputy director as saying the ship “caused widespread marine pollution 11 miles off Greater Tunb Island.”
He indicated that the tanker continued to navigate despite warnings from the Revolutionary Guard naval patrols, before it was arrested.
However, the tanker’s operator, DM Shipping (Shipping), denied causing any contamination, according to a statement reported by Korean news agency Yonhap.
Commenting on the arrest, the South Korean Defense Ministry announced the dispatch of an anti-piracy unit to the Gulf.
And he confirmed in a statement that he had “immediately dispatched the Xionghai unit to waters near the Strait of Hormuz shortly after receiving a report on the seizure of our merchant ship by Iran.”
The South Korean Foreign Ministry called for “the speedy release of the ship” and stressed that it had verified the safety of its crew members.
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