The Korea Shipowners' Association said in a statement that the Senegal Prosperity, which was recently attacked while transiting the strategic waterway, was wholly owned by a foreign shipowner and that Sinokor had no beneficial ownership of the vessel.
“According to information confirmed through a Sinokor official, the Senegal Prosperity, which was attacked yesterday, is 100 percent owned by an overseas shipowner, and Sinokor Maritime does not hold beneficial ownership of the vessel,” the association said.
It added that there were no South Korean nationals among the crew.
“The vessel had no Korean crew members aboard, and the entire crew consisted of foreign nationals,” the association said, adding that the tanker had been sub-chartered to an overseas oil company.
The clarification follows an FT report that two oil tankers were hit in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday night, identifying them as the Senegal Prosperity, which it described as owned by South Korea's Sinokor, and the Saudi-owned Sidr.
The FT cited maritime security analysts and cautioned at the time that poor communications in the Gulf had made it difficult to formally verify the ships' identities.
A government source earlier gave AJP a similar account of the ownership arrangement.
“Sinokor chartered the vessel from another shipping company and then sub-chartered it to another operator,” the source said. “So, based on what we have found so far, it is not a South Korean vessel.”
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has separately said the Senegal Prosperity is Liberian-flagged, is not registered as a South Korean vessel and carried no Korean crew members.
The attack came amid renewed U.S.-Iran fighting after U.S. forces on Sept. 1 struck Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps targets, including air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and mine-laying capabilities.
Washington said the strikes followed recent IRGC attempts to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. forces, while Tehran has also carried out attacks on American military targets in the region.
The party responsible for striking the Senegal Prosperity has not been identified.
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