A fire aboard a South Korean cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz has prompted concerns it may have been hit in the Middle East conflict, leading the Lee Jae-myung government and the shipping industry to activate emergency response measures. The cause has not been determined, but officials and the operator said they would respond cautiously, mindful of diplomatic implications, as the possibility of an attack involving an Iranian mine or suicide drone has been raised.
According to the government and HMM on Monday, an unexplained fire broke out about 8:40 p.m. Sunday (Korea time) on the HMM NAMU while it was anchored in waters near the United Arab Emirates. The blaze was extinguished about four hours later, around midnight Monday.
The ship had six South Korean crew members and 18 foreign crew members aboard, and no casualties were reported.
South Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and HMM said the vessel will be towed to the nearby port of Dubai for an investigation into the cause. HMM deployed a contracted tugboat for the operation.
The presidential office, the Foreign Ministry and the oceans ministry have been cautious in discussing the cause, noting the fire occurred after the start of a U.S. “Liberation Project” operation to rescue ships trapped in the Strait of Hormuz. With armed clashes underway, officials said they must be careful in assigning responsibility given the potential impact on diplomatic relations.
The government said it is communicating in real time with the shipping company and the vessel while weighing follow-up steps. The presidential office held a meeting chaired by presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik to discuss a response. The Foreign Ministry urgently convened a meeting of its Overseas Nationals Protection Countermeasures Headquarters, chaired by Second Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jina, with seven diplomatic missions in the Middle East. The oceans ministry held emergency situation review meetings on May 4 and 5 chaired by Oceans Minister Hwang Jong-woo.
HMM said it switched to an emergency posture immediately after the fire and is focusing on assessing the situation and preparing follow-up measures through its integrated ship operations center in Busan, which can monitor vessels in real time.
Shipping experts said a routine engine-room fire appears less likely. Crew members reported hearing an unexplained “thump” at the time of the incident, followed by a fire on the port side of the engine room. They also noted the ship is a new vessel launched in September last year, making age-related equipment issues less likely.
Some have cautiously raised the possibility the ship struck a mine laid by Iran or was hit by an Iranian suicide drone such as a Shahed. Mines have been used in the past to indiscriminately block the Strait of Hormuz rather than target a specific country’s ships, while a suicide drone attack would more likely imply Iran recognized the vessel as South Korean, they said. The government’s response could vary depending on what weapon, if any, caused the external impact.
U.S. President Donald Trump, in a post on his social media platform Truth Social, accused Iran of being behind the incident, saying Iran had fired multiple times at ships from unrelated countries, including a South Korean cargo ship, during vessel movements linked to the “Liberation Project.”
As of Monday, South Korean officials said 123 South Korean sailors and 37 South Korean sailors on foreign-flagged ships were believed to be inside the Strait of Hormuz. Domestic shipping companies, including HMM, have begun moving vessels toward what they described as a safer area near Qatar.
The incident is expected to intensify demands by crew members who have remained in the strait for an extended period to disembark. A ministry official said, “We will safely bring back to Korea those who exercise their right to request disembarkation, giving them priority.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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