US-Iran war: 9th Indian tankers crosses Strait of Hormez, 18 still trapped

Another India-flagged vessel, Green Asha, has safely crossed the Strait of Hormuz despite ongoing tensions in the region. And with this, the number of Indian tankers that have navigated the strait since the conflict began has risen to nine.

Sources close to the development informed that Green Asha is an LPG tanker.

Iran has tightened its grip over Hormuz since the US and Israel attacked the country on Feb. 28, reducing shipping to a trickle through a chokepoint that normally handles about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. Tehran has allowed some ships from friendly nations to transit, including India, a pre-approved route while threatening to strike vessels allied to the US or Israel.

So far, several Indian-linked vessels have safely crossed the key strait. Pine Gas and Jag Vasant, carrying 92,612 tonnes of LPG, reached Indian ports between March 26 and March 28. Prior to that, MT Shivalik and MT Nanda Devi, carrying about 92,712 tonnes of LPG, had reached Mundra port in Gujarat on March 16 and Kandla port, respectively, on March 17.

Besides, the Indian-flagged oil tanker Jag Laadki, with 80,886 tonnes of crude oil from the UAE, reached Mundra on March 18. Another tanker, Jag Prakash, carrying gasoline from Oman to Africa, had previously safely crossed the strait and is en route to Tanzania.

At an inter-ministerial briefing on the fallout 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 with energy cargo for India are currently stranded.

These include 3 vessels with LPG, four crude oil tankers and three liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. Besides these, there are Indian-flagged vessels. These include three LPG tankers, one LNG carrier and four crude oil tankers. One empty tanker is being filled with LPG.

"Our first priority is to get Indian flagged vessels out," Sinha said. "We are yet to reach the stage where we start sending back vessels (for refills)."

Noting that his ministry has been closely monitoring the evolving situation in West Asia, he said "All Indian seafarers in the region are safe, and no incident involving Indian-flagged vessels has been reported in the past 24 hours. The situation has remained stable over the last 72 hours as well,"