Two Indian-flagged liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tankers headed to ports in Gujarat transited the critical maritime chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz safely between Friday night and Saturday, the government announced on Saturday. It said diplomatic efforts are on to facilitate safe passage for the remaining 22 Indian vessels — many of which are carrying hydrocarbons — that are stuck in the Persian Gulf, which is to the west of the war-hit Strait.
According to sources, the Indian Navy has deployed multiple warships to the Gulf region to escort merchant vessels carrying fuel to India amid heightened maritime tension in the region. At least two warships were known to have been on operational standby since Iran started the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz that connects the Persian Gulf (west) to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea (east). Under the Navy’s Operation Sankalp, warships remain deployed in the Gulf of Aden and Gulf of Oman for anti-piracy operations and to secure maritime trade. Following the West Asian crisis, multiple warships have sailed to the region, the sources said. They had earlier indicated that New Delhi was in discussions with Tehran to facilitate safe passage of vessels headed for India, particularly energy tankers, through the Strait of Hormuz. The two LPG tankers of the state-owned Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) that crossed the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea — are very large gas carriers (VLGCs) Shivalik and Nanda Devi. They are cumulatively carrying 92,700 tonnes of LPG, of which there is short supply in India. To put this in perspective, the annual domestic LPG demand with no restrictions on consumption is 33 million tonnes, which translates to about 90,000 tonnes a day. The country’s LPG imports have been severely hit by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, forcing New Delhi to cut LPG supplies to commercial and industrial consumers to meet the kitchen fuel needs of over 33 crore households.
Shivalik crossed the fraught waters of the Strait of Hormuz late Friday, as per ship tracking data, and is on its way to Gujarat’s Mundra port, where it is expected to arrive on Monday. Shipping Ministry Special Secretary Rajesh Kumar Sinha informed that Nanda Devi, too, crossed the Strait on Saturday morning, and is likely to reach Kandla port in Gujarat on Tuesday. Both the VLGCs were chartered by government-owned refiner and fuel retailer Indian Oil Corporation, according to industry sources.