Two India-Bound LPG Tankers Cross Hormuz; India-Flagged Vessel Sinks After Hit

NEW DELHI : Two India-bound liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tankers have crossed the Strait of Hormuz amid heightened tensions in the region, while an India-flagged vessel sank after being hit near the strategic shipping corridor, officials said on Thursday.
LPG tanker Symi transited through the Strait on May 13, while NV Sunshine safely crossed the waterway on Thursday. This takes the total number of Indian vessels to have crossed the shipping channel, which had been effectively shut since the US-Israel strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliation more than two months back, to 13.
Separately, Haji Ali – an Indian Dhow or a mechanised sailing vessel (MSV) – during its voyage from Somalia to Sharjah, UAE, came under attack in the early hours of Wednesday in Omani waters, leading to a fire onboard the wooden vessel and its subsequent sinking, said Mukesh Mangal, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways.
“All 14 crew members onboard (Haji Ali) were safely rescued by the Omani Coast Guard and have reached Dibba Port in Oman. The crew is reported to be safe, and necessary formalities with the local authorities have been completed,” he said at a news briefing.
The crew will be brought back to India soon. “The Government of India remains in close coordination with the authorities in the Sultanate of Oman, Indian Mission officials and relevant maritime agencies,” he said.
An Indian dhow is a traditional, usually wooden, sailing vessel with one or more masts and characteristic lateen (triangular) sails, essential to maritime trade in the Indian Ocean for centuries.
Mangal said the vessel that sank was 57 meters long and 14 meters wide.
The passage of two India-bound LPG vessels came amids a deadlock in negotiations to end the war and the arrival of Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in New Delhi to attend the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting.
Symi emerged in the GUlf of Oman on Thursday after turning off its transponder, while NV Sunshine – loaded with LPG at the UAE’s Ruwais refinery – followed suit hours later after transmitting its location east of Iran’s Larak Island before going dark.
Mangal said Symi, a Marshall Islands-flagged vessel carrying 19,965 tonnes of LPG, is expected to arrive at Kandla in Gujarat on May 16.
NV Sunshine, a Vietnam-flagged vessel carrying 46,427 tonnes of LPG cargo, is expected to arrive at New Mangalore on May 18, he said, adding that the cargo on both the vessels belongs to Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
Since early March, 13 India-flagged vessels – including 12 LPG tankers and one crude oil tanker – have crossed the Strait of Hormuz, even as tensions in the region continue to disrupt maritime traffic.
Several foreign-flagged energy tankers carrying cargo for India have also arrived from the Persian Gulf after transiting the strategic waterway. At least 12 Indian vessels remain stranded in the Gulf, along with multiple foreign ships transporting India-bound cargo. (Agencies)