First Korean oil tanker to take alternative Red Sea route arrives in South Jeolla

The first Korean oil tanker to pass through the Red Sea — an alternative route following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — arrived in Yeosu, South Jeolla, on Thursday.

The Korean oil tanker, carrying around 2 million barrels of crude oil from Yanbu Port in Saudi Arabia, passed through the Red Sea in mid-April and entered the GS Caltex crude oil terminal in Yeosu on Thursday, according to reports.

The tanker marks the first case of a Korean vessel transporting crude oil to Korea via the Red Sea since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Following this shipment, two other oil tankers have passed through the Red Sea this month and are currently headed to Korea.

The Malta-flagged oil tanker Odessa, which also passed through the blocked Strait of Hormuz last month, is expected to arrive at Daesan Port in South Chungcheong on Friday.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [[email protected]]