South Korea firm confirms rescue of oil tanker crew after attack

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A South Korean company confirms that all the 23 crew aboard one of the two oil tankers reportedly attacked near the Strait of Hormuz have been rescued by one of its cargo vessels sailing in the area.

The Seoul-based Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. on Thursday cited crew of its Hyundai Dubai cargo vessel as saying that there were three rounds of explosion sounds at the MT Front Altair before it sent an emergency distress call.

The company says it’s the operator of the Hyundai Dubai vessel.

A company statement says the 30,000-ton-class Hyundai Dubai vessel sent a lifeboat to rescue MT Front Altair’s 23 crew members before embarking them on the cargo vessel.

It says the Hyundai Dubai vessel later handed over the rescued crew members to an Iranian rescue boat.

It says the MT Front Altair, built in 2016, had reportedly been on its way to Japan with naphtha, a petrochemical product.

The Japanese trade minister says two tankers carrying “Japan-related” cargo were attacked near the Strait of Hormuz.

Hiroshige Seko said on Thursday that all crew members were safely rescued. He said the government has set up a task force and that the government has informed the shipping industry to use precautions.

The Japan Shipowners’ Association said one of the two ships attacked is a Panamanian-registered chemical tanker belonging to its Japanese member and was on its way to Singapore and Thailand, not to Japan.

It said all 21 Filipino crew members were uninjured.

The attacks came as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was wrapping up a two-day trip to Iran with a mission to ease tensions between Tehran and Washington.

No one has claimed responsibility or explained how the tankers were attacked.

The Iranian foreign minister has described the reported attack on oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz as suspicious.

Mohammad Javad Zarif made the comment in a tweet on Thursday: “Suspicious doesn’t begin to describe what likely transpired this morning.”

He didn’t elaborate.

Zarif described the talks between Shinzo Abe and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as “extensive and friendly.”

However, Khamenei said Iran would never negotiate with the U.S. and said that while his country didn’t seek nuclear weapons, “America could not do anything” to stop Iran if it did.