Two vessels operated by Korean shipping companies passed through the Strait of Hormuz and resumed normal sailing after months of disruption, South Korea’s oceans ministry said on June 27, 2026.
The ships had been waiting inside the strait during a Middle East conflict that sharply restricted movement through the waterway. Four Korean crew members were aboard the two vessels, according to the ministry, although neither ship was traveling to Korea.
Their departure reduced the number of Korea-related vessels still stranded in the strait to three. One of those remaining ships is the HMM Namu, which was damaged in missile attacks linked to Iran and was undergoing repairs at a port in Dubai.
The ministry said 43 Korean crew members remained stranded across Korean vessels and foreign-flagged ships. That figure covers personnel affected by the continuing shipping disruption rather than only those aboard vessels operated under the Korean flag.
Departures follow ceasefire agreement
A total of 26 Korea-related vessels had become stranded after Iran blocked shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz in late February amid its conflict with the United States and Israel, according to the ministry’s account.
The first two Korean ships to leave made their passage during the conflict with Iranian assistance. Other vessels subsequently began departing individually after the United States and Iran signed a ceasefire agreement earlier in June. The two latest passages were part of that gradual movement out of the waterway rather than a simultaneous evacuation of all affected ships.
South Korean authorities said they had supported the vessels through real-time monitoring as well as diplomatic and navigational assistance. The oceans ministry carried out that work with the foreign ministry to help ships travel through the strait safely.
Universal Winner, a large crude carrier operated by South Korean shipping company HMM, had been among the first two Korean ships to clear the waterway. It approached a port in Ulsan, a southeastern South Korean city, on June 10 after its passage.
The ministry’s update showed that the number of stranded Korea-related vessels had fallen substantially from the original 26, but it also distinguished the vessel count from the number of affected Korean seafarers. Although only three Korea-related ships remained inside the strait after the latest departures, Korean nationals were also serving aboard foreign-flagged vessels.
The report did not identify the two newly cleared ships or specify their destinations. The ministry’s statement was limited to confirming that they had crossed the strait, were sailing normally and carried four Korean crew members between them. Its account also left the HMM Namu among the vessels unable to complete a departure while repairs continued in Dubai.
