DUBAI/WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) – A South Korean ship was hit by an explosion in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and Iranian drones caused a fire at a UAE oil port, as Tehran demonstrated its grip on Middle East oil after U.S. President Donald Trump said his Navy would open the strait.
The U.S. military said two U.S. merchant ships had made it through the strait, without saying when. Iran denied any crossings had taken place, and there was no indication that Trump’s “Project Freedom” had led to a meaningful surge of shipping through the waterway.
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Trump’s new mission, which he announced on social media overnight, was the first apparent attempt to use naval power to unblock the world’s most important energy shipping route, creating a showdown at sea with Iran, which says no ships may pass without its permission.
In the two months since the U.S. launched an air war against Iran alongside Israel, Tehran has largely blocked the strait to ships apart from its own, causing the biggest disruption to global energy supplies in history. Since last month, the United States has imposed a separate blockade of ships leaving or entering Iranian ports.
The warring sides issued contradictory statements on Monday about the initial impact of the new U.S. mission, and Reuters could not independently verify the full situation there.
But there was no immediate sign of any sudden surge of ships attempting to cross. And the explosion reported aboard the South Korean merchant ship HMM Namu in the strait was likely to persuade commercial shippers it was still unsafe.
The UAE, meanwhile, reported a fire at an oil installation in its port of Fujairah following an Iranian drone attack. Fujairah lies beyond the strait, making it one of the few export routes for Middle East oil that does require passing through it.
REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS SAY NO TRANSITS TOOK PLACE
In a post on X, U.S. Central Command said some of its Navy guided-missile destroyers were inside the Gulf supporting the operation, and that two U.S.-flagged merchant vessels had crossed the strait “and are safely headed on their journey”.
It did not identify either the warships or the merchant vessels or say when any of those crossings had taken place.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said no commercial vessels had crossed the strait in the past few hours, and that U.S. claims to the contrary were false.
Earlier, Iran said it had fired on a U.S. warship approaching the strait, forcing it to turn around. An initial Iranian report had said a U.S. warship was struck, but Washington denied this and Iranian officials later described the fire as warning shots.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said there was a fire and an explosion onboard the Namu, operated by South Korean shipper HMM (011200.KS), opens new tab. Yonhap news agency reported that the government was checking intelligence indicating the vessel may have been attacked.
There were no casualties reported, and authorities were investigating what caused the blaze that HMM said broke out in the engine room of the Panama-flagged cargo ship.
SHIPPING INDUSTRY AWAITS CLARITY ON SAFETY
Oil prices jumped after the reports of new confrontations in the Gulf, wavering between 2% and 5% higher in volatile trade.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News that the U.S. had absolute control of the strait.
But the shipping industry remains to be convinced that the vital oil route, whose closure has damaged global business and trade, is safe to use, with little sign of progress towards a negotiated resolution of Washington’s conflict with Iran.
