{"text":[[{"start":8.16,"text":"Iran has threatened South Korean shipping company Sinokor with “legal action” for repeatedly violating rules imposed by Tehran to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz."}],[{"start":18.58,"text":"The warning is the first direct threat to a specific shipowner for shuttling oil out from the Gulf via the contested waterway, which Iran sees as crucial leverage in its conflict with the US."}],[{"start":30.5,"text":"The Persian Gulf Strait Authority, a body set up by Iran in May to manage transits through the strait, said on Tuesday that Sinokor ships had undertaken the “highest number of crossing violations over the past three months”, and that Iran had taken “enforcement action” against seven ships."}],[{"start":47.68,"text":"Lloyd’s List reported last week that seven Sinokor vessels had been attacked in the region since the hostilities began. Iran is not known to have taken enforcement action other than attacks against ships."}],[{"start":59.32,"text":"The PGSA said “all cargo owners, stakeholders, and insurance service providers are hereby warned that as of November 1, legal action will be taken against all vessels” belonging to Sinokor. It did not specify what form such action could take."}],[{"start":74.68,"text":"The company, founded by secretive Korean tycoon Ga-Hyun Chung, started buying the largest class of oil tanker at the beginning of the year - before the US and Israel launched their war on Iran."}],[{"start":85.96,"text":"With the financial backing of MSC, the world’s largest container shipping company, it has steadily built up a fleet of more than 80 very large crude carriers with tens more on charter to the company, becoming the largest single operator of such ships globally."}],[{"start":101.16,"text":"At least 70 of Sinokor’s ships have been involved in a trade that has built up since the summer involving shuttle runs to shift oil from Gulf producers through the Strait of Hormuz to more risk-averse tankers waiting off Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman."}],[{"start":115.52,"text":"This has allowed the company to earn hundreds of millions of dollars as freight rates for those willing to risk the transit of the Strait of Hormuz have hit record highs."}],[{"start":124.36,"text":"Sinokor did not immediately respond to a request for comment."}],[{"start":127.84,"text":"The PGSA, which is under US sanctions, has a list of more than 120 ships it considers “non-compliant” and therefore legitimate targets for missile and drone attacks."}],[{"start":137.16,"text":"One, Chinese-owned LPG tanker Sea Soar, was struck by Iran in the north of the Gulf on Monday, according to maritime risk advisers, days after it was added to the PGSA list."}],[{"start":154.64,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1793174736_5904.mp3"}