South Korea reported that its ship exploded and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz, and the cause is still unknown.

The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that a South Korean ship exploded and caught fire in the Hormuz Strait, marking the first loss of a South Korean commercial vessel stranded in the region since the outbreak of the Middle East conflict. The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on Tuesday that the South Korean-operated "HMM Namu" exploded and caught fire near the United Arab Emirates, with no casualties reported. South Korea held an emergency meeting chaired by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kim Jina. Kim expressed "deep concern" about the incident and emphasized the need to determine the cause of the accident to prevent similar incidents from happening again. The statement said that Seoul is ready to take swift action at any time to ensure the safety of South Korean crew members. According to Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean shipping company HMM operating the medium-sized bulk carrier reported that the fire started in the engine room and was extinguished by the crew after four hours of effort. The company stated that all 24 crew members, including six South Korean nationals, are safe and unharmed. The South Korean government has received intelligence that the ship was attacked but is still investigating the incident. Yonhap News Agency quoted an official from HMM as saying, "It has not been confirmed whether the explosion was caused by an external attack or an internal issue with the ship." The ship will be towed to Dubai port. Following the incident, former U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Iran had fired on a "South Korean ship," suggesting that South Korea should also consider joining operations in the Hormuz Strait.