A liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker bound for India has sailed out of the Strait of Hormuz and is now headed towards the country, an official statement said on Sunday.
The Marshall Islands–flagged LPG carrier MT Sarv Shakti, carrying 46,313 tonnes of LPG and a crew of 20 (including 18 Indians), passed through the key shipping chokepoint on May 2 and is expected to arrive in Visakhapatnam on May 13, PTI reported, citing the statement.
The cargo, which is enough to meet half a day of the country’s requirement, will partly ease supply constraints that have persisted since the start of the West Asia conflict over two months ago.
As of Sunday evening, the tanker was in the Gulf of Oman, according to ship-tracking data.
The very large gas carrier, which has previously operated between the Persian Gulf and Indian ports, has been chartered by the state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
Sarv Shakti, the first India-linked tanker to cross the war zone
Sarv Shakti is the first India-linked tanker to cross the war zone since the US imposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports weeks ago, which has reduced traffic via the Strait of Hormuz to near-zero levels.
As of May 3, there are at least 14 Indian-flagged or India-owned vessels that are still stranded on the west side of the Hormuz, which was shut by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) days after the US and Israel waged war against it.
No incident involving Indian-flagged vessels reported in 24 hours
The statement said no incident involving Indian-flagged vessels has been reported in the past 24 hours. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways is working closely with the Ministry of External Affairs, Indian missions, and maritime stakeholders to ensure crew welfare and uninterrupted operations.
The Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping) control room has handled 8,373 calls and more than 17,965 emails since activation, including 38 calls and 127 emails in the last 24 hours.
Additionally, New Delhi has facilitated the repatriation of more than 2,953 seafarers so far, including 31 in the past day from across the Gulf region.
Port operations across the country remain normal, with no congestion reported, the statement added.
Indian tankers U-turn before Hormuz amid reopening doubt
Earlier in April, several oil tankers, including Indian tankers, were forced to take a U-turn in the Persian Gulf after appearing to attempt passage through the Strait of Hormuz, as shipowners and traders grapple with uncertainty over whether Iran will uphold its pledge to keep the key chokepoint open to all vessels, Bloomberg reported.
The halted journeys of five Greek and Indian tankers on April 18 showed how traffic was navigating via the key arterial waterway after Tehran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on April 17 that the Strait was completely open. However, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency later reported that the passage would still be closed if a US naval blockade remained in effect.
The Greek and Indian tankers had all made their journeys northeast toward Hormuz from waters off Dubai, filled with crude, before they began turning around on the morning of April 18. Some vessels were left idling near where they had turned back, close to Iran’s Qeshm Island, while another stopped transmitting its location signal for several hours.
