British maritime risk management group Vanguard said authorities would investigate whether the damage might have been caused by an attack, a drifting sea mine or another external object.

In response to the incident, South Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said on Tuesday it had asked Korean vessels in the area to move to safer locations and said authorities were in close communications with shipping companies and stranded vessels.

The South Korean government has said 26 South Korean-flagged vessels were stranded around the Strait of Hormuz.

In a post on the Truth Social platform, Trump said Iran had fired shots at the ship and other targets as the US launched an operation seeking to open the Strait of Hormuz to shipping.

He suggested it could be time for South Korea to join his new effort to help guide stranded ships through the waterway typically used to carry about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

The U.S. military on Monday denied claims that Iran struck a U.S. Navy vessel as American forces now offer to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, where hundreds have been stuck since the Iran war began. Tehran has blocked vessels that don’t receive its authorization.

Iranian news agencies, including the semiofficial agency Fars and the Iranian Labour News Agency, claimed that Iran had struck a U.S. vessel near an Iranian port southeast of the strait, accusing it of “violating maritime security and navigation norms.” The reports said the vessel was forced to turn back.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine are holding a news conference Tuesday morning as the ceasefire in the Iran war faces serious tests. U.S. Navy destroyers on Monday fended off a sustained barrage of Iranian missiles, attack drones and small boats as they helped two commercial vessels transit the Strait of Hormuz.

“Iran cannot be allowed to block innocent countries and their goods from an international waterway,” Hegseth said at the news conference.

Hegseth noted that Project Freedom, the U.S. guiding of commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, is “separate and distinct from Operation Epic Fury.” He called the operation a “temporary solution” for the U.S., saying “the world needs this waterway more than we do.”