Another Indian-flagged vessel, the Green Asha, safely crossed the Strait of Hormuz despite ongoing tensions in the region. And with that, the number of Indian tankers that have passed through the strait since the beginning of the conflict has increased to nine.
Sources close to the development informed that the Green Asha is an LPG tanker.
Iran has tightened its grip on Hormuz since the US and Israel attacked the country on February 28, reducing shipping to a trickle through the choke point, which normally handles about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. Tehran has allowed some ships from friendly countries, including India, to transit through a pre-approved route, while threatening to attack vessels allied with the US or Israel.
Several India-bound vessels have so far safely crossed the key strait. Pine Gas and Jag Vasant, carrying 92,612 tonnes of LPG, arrived at Indian ports between 26 March and 28 March. Earlier, MT Shivalik and MT Nanda Devi, carrying about 92,712 tonnes of LPG, reached Mundra port in Gujarat on March 16 and Kandla port on March 17.
In addition, the Indian-flagged oil tanker Jag Laadki carrying 80,886 tonnes of crude oil from the United Arab Emirates arrived at Mundra on 18 March. Another tanker, the Jag Prakash, carrying petrol from Oman to Africa, had previously passed the strait safely and is on its way to Tanzania.
18 Indian vessels are still stuck in Hormuz
As many as 18 LPG, oil and LNG ships destined for India are currently stranded in the Strait of Hormuz due to the escalation of the war in West Asia.
At an inter-ministerial briefing on the impact of developments in West Asia, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, said, as reported by PTI, 10 foreign-flagged vessels carrying energy cargo for India are currently stranded.
These are 3 LPG vessels, four oil tankers and three liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. Apart from these there are Indian flagged vessels. These include three LPG tankers, one LNG carrier and four oil tankers. One empty tank is filled with LPG.
“Our first priority is to get the Indian-flagged vessels out,” Sinha said. “We’ve yet to get to the stage where we’re going to start sending containers back (for refills).”
Noting that his ministry was closely monitoring the developing situation in West Asia, he said, “All Indian seafarers in the region are safe and no incident has been reported with Indian-flagged vessels in the last 24 hours. The situation has remained stable even in the last 72 hours,” he said.
