This undated handout photo released by Korea's Foreign Ministry, Monday, shows a damaged part of the Korean cargo ship HMM Namu docked at a port in Dubai. AFP-Yonhap
Korean shipping company HMM has begun preparations to repair a cargo vessel damaged in a fire in the Strait of Hormuz, company officials said Monday, after the government concluded it was hit by airborne objects.
HMM has been working on a repair plan after a government investigation team on Sunday concluded that two "unidentified airborne objects" caused an explosion and fire aboard the Panama-flagged cargo ship HMM Namu in the key waterway last week, officials said.
"We are reviewing the best way to carry out the repairs," an HMM official told Yonhap News Agency by phone. "It would be difficult to repair the vessel within one or two months."
With the vessel anchored at Drydocks World Dubai, the Middle East's largest ship repair yard, HMM is reviewing whether necessary parts can be secured locally, with repairs expected to take several months.
The attack left a 7-meter-wide rupture in the hull, though none of the vessel's 24 crew members, including six Koreans, were injured.
Investigators found that the 38,000-deadweight-tonnage vessel's internal frame had bent inward, while the outer hull plating protruded and warped outward. Holes were also found in the engine room floor, and some equipment appeared to have been damaged by fire.
On Monday, the presidential office said it is working to determine who was behind the attack and identify the type of objects involved, adding that it will take necessary measures based on the findings.
Source: Korea Times News
