Türkiye trying to help 9 ships pass through Strait of Hormuz

A second Turkish-flagged ship has successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz amid ongoing regional tensions, Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said Saturday.

According to him, on February 28 there were 15 ships belonging to Turkish shipowners waiting to go through the strategic strait.

"Two of these 15 made the crossing. This is explained by our initiatives and also by the fact that they were using Iranian ports or carrying goods coming from or bound for Iran," Uraloğlu said.

The minster did not say when the second ship crossed the strait. The first vessel had passed through, with Iranian permission, on March 13.

He said only nine of the blocked ships had sought permission to pass through the strait and that the transport and foreign ministries was trying to help them, CNN Turk reported.

"Four of them have not requested to leave. Two of them are power-generation vessels and are stationed on site. The other two are waiting for the situation to calm down," Uraloğlu said.