[Herald Economy = Lee Young-gi, Reporter] HMM activated emergency protocols after an HMM-operated vessel in the Strait of Hormuz suffered an explosion and caught fire.Yonhap reported that on the afternoon of the 5th, HMM Ocean Service in Jung-gu, Busan — which houses the company’s ship operations center — was operating under tight security amid heightened tension.
HMM Ocean Service, a subsidiary of HMM, manages vessel operations, crew welfare and safety. Its operations center monitors most HMM vessels in real time.
Access to the office housing the command center was tightly controlled by facial-recognition checkpoints. Employees entering the area were observed affixing security stickers to electronic devices, including cell phones.
Staff moved briskly along corridors to the command room, where team members spoke on phones with serious expressions.
Workers on site declined to speak to reporters and directed media inquiries to company headquarters.
An HMM official said the operations center had previously been open to outside visitors, but access has been strictly limited since the Strait of Hormuz was designated a restricted area.
The center is tracking the Panama-flagged small-to-medium bulk carrier NAMU, which is being towed to Dubai following the explosion, along with other vessels inside the Strait.
In total, five HMM vessels — one container ship, two tankers and two bulk carriers — shifted toward Qatari waters for safety.
The center includes a main control room with 35 display screens fed by satellite and other data, plus a safety room dedicated to monitoring vessel integrity.
Command staff can also view closed-circuit (CCTV) footage from both inside and outside affected vessels in the operations center.
On the 4th, after an explosion and subsequent fire erupted on the port side of NAMU’s engine room, the crew deployed carbon dioxide suppression systems and battled the blaze for roughly four hours.
The ship had 24 crew aboard, including six South Korean nationals. No injuries were reported.
An HMM official said CCTV footage indicates the fire was extinguished and that the company plans a direct inspection of the engine room. "We understand the crew's condition is relatively stable," the official added.
