Middle East crisis: Two more Indian vessels carrying days cooking gas transit Strait of Hormuz
Two Indian vessels carrying day's coking gas crossed strait of hormuz amid gulf crisis and are expected to arrive on April 1
Middle East crisis: Two more Indian-flagged LPG tankers, carrying about a day’s supply of cooking gas, have safely passed through the conflict-hit Strait of Hormuz and are expected to reach India soon. BW TYR is heading to Mumbai and is likely to arrive on March 31, while BW ELM is on its way to New Mangalore with an expected arrival on April 1.
"Two LPG carriers, BW TYR and BW ELM, carrying a combined LPG cargo of about 94,000 tonnes, have safely transited the region and are moving towards Indian shores," an official statement said.
Shipping through the strait has been severely disrupted due to attacks by the US and Israel on Iran, followed by Iran’s strong retaliation. This narrow route is a key passage for global oil and gas exports. However, Iran recently said that “non-hostile vessels” can pass through if they coordinate with its authorities.
Earlier, four Indian LPG tankers had also crossed safely. Pine Gas and Jag Vasant, carrying over 92,000 tonnes of LPG, reached Indian ports between March 26 and 28. Before that, MT Shivalik and MT Nanda Devi delivered around 92,700 tonnes of LPG to Mundra Port and Kandla Port on March 16 and 17.
India depends heavily on imports from Gulf countries for about 60% of its cooking gas needs. Last year, the country used 33.15 million tonnes of LPG, with nearly 90% of imports coming from West Asia. These recent arrivals will help ease one of the worst LPG shortages India has faced in decades.
With the strait nearly closed, India is now sourcing LPG from countries like the United States and Argentina. When the conflict began, 28 Indian-flagged vessels were in the Strait of Hormuz. Recently, eight of them have managed to move to safer areas.
Apart from LPG carriers, the oil tanker Jag Laadki, carrying crude oil from the United Arab Emirates, reached Mundra on March 18. Another tanker, Jag Prakash, carrying gasoline from Oman to Africa, has also safely crossed the strait and is heading to Tanzania.
Some vessels, including Jag Vikram, Green Asha, and Green Sanvi, are still in the western part of the Strait of Hormuz, while one empty tanker is currently being loaded with LPG.