TLTP
\nTEHRAN
\nIran has detained a South Korean chemical tanker that was sailing in the Persian Gulf.
\nThe 17,427 dwt tanker Hankuk Chemi had departed Saudi Arabia\u2019s Al Jubail port sailing to Fujairah, UAE, when the vessel was approached by the Iranian Navy and diverted into Iran\u2019s southern port city of Bandar Abbas.
\nThe Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy later issued a statement saying the tanker, which was carrying 7,200 tons of ethanol, had been captured because of \u201crepeated violation of environmental regulations.\u201d Citing environmental and chemical pollution concerns, the Navy\u2019s statement said that the oil tanker had been berthed at Bandar Abbas, \u201cfor legal procedures to be performed by the Iranian Judiciary officials.\u201d
\nSecurity analyst Dryad Global confirmed the reports noting that the vessel has a crew of 23 aboard, including from South Korea, Indonesia, and Burma. Dryad noted that tensions have remained high in the area, but cautioned that the full details on this incident are unclear.
\n\u201cIranian-South Korean relations have dramatically declined over the last two years,\u201d says Dryad, \u201cwith Tehran expressing hostilities over South Korea\u2019s refusal to release Iranian oil-revenue from South Korean banks.\u201d
\nThe South Korean Foreign Ministry issued a statement later in the day demanding the immediate release of the vessel. South Korean forces stationed in the Strait of Hormuz have been dispatched to the area.
\nThis incident comes just days after a limpet mine was found on another tanker, the M\/T Pola that was anchored and doing ship-to-ship- oil transfers off Iraq. In that incident, Iraqi officials reported that the crew was safe and that they were defusing the mine while also investigating the circumstances and when and where the mine was attached to the vessel.
\nThe tanker had been at anchor for several days near Iraqi\u2019s oil terminal before the mine was discovered. Dryad suggested that the mine might have failed to detonate or that it had been a \u201ctrial\u201d possibly to test security.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TLTP TEHRAN Iran has detained a South Korean chemical tanker that was sailing in the Persian Gulf. The 17,427 dwt tanker Hankuk Chemi had departed Saudi Arabia\u2019s Al Jubail port sailing to Fujairah, UAE, when the vessel was approached by the Iranian Navy and diverted into Iran\u2019s southern port city of Bandar Abbas. The Islamic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-166590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n