Strait of Hormuz: 18 crude oil, LPG laden Indian-flagged ships stranded in waterway, New Delhi weighs evacuation

Strait of Hormuz: At least 18 Indian-flagged tankers carryingenergy supplies with LPG, crude oil, and LNG are stranded in the Persian Gulf, according to the government.

Speaking at a media briefing on the fallout of developments in West Asia, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, said of the 10 India-bound foreign-flagged ships, three are carrying critical liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), four are crude oil tankers, and three are liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.

"The government's priority is to ensure that Indian-flagged vessels carrying India-bound cargo are allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz," Sinha stressed.

"The affected area is not just the Strait of Hormuz; areas outside of it also fall under the high-risk area (HRA)," he said, adding that commercial premiums that used to be 0.04 per cent of the insured value before the war have since gone up. "In one case, the premium now is 0.7 per cent of the insured value, and it could be even higher," he said.

Several Indian ships managed to pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz despite the ongoing conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran, which began on February 28 after joint US-Israel strikes on Iran reportedly killed its Supreme Leader. Iran retaliated by targeting both US and other locations across West Asia.

Two vessels, Pine Gas and Jag Vasant, carrying a total of 92,612 tonnes of LPG, arrived at Indian ports between March 26 and 28. Earlier, MT Shivalik and MT Nanda Devi, transporting around 92,712 tonnes of LPG, had reached Mundra port in Gujarat on March 16 and Kandla port on March 17.

In addition, the Indian-flagged oil tanker Jag Laadki delivered 80,886 tonnes of crude oil from the UAE to Mundra on March 18. Another tanker, Jag Prakash, carrying gasoline from Oman to Africa, had already crossed the strait safely and is currently on its way to Tanzania.