There is a crucial maritime event taking place in the Middle East at the moment with the LPG carrier Green Sanvi, sailing through the risky waters of the Strait of Hormuz, loaded with over 46,000 metric tons of fuel. If all goes well, it will be delivered to Mumbai by April 6, which is important because it can ease the energy crisis prevailing in the region.
According to the Directorate General of Shipping, the carrier is currently positioned north of the Strait and is timed to complete its passage during the early hours of Saturday. This move follows the successful arrival of two other tankers, Jag Vasant and Pine Gas, which delivered nearly 93,000 tonnes of LPG to Kandla and New Mangalore respectively over the past week. However, the situation remains precarious; two further vessels, Green Asha and Jag Vikram, are currently idling as they wait for the Indian Navy to give the green light for their own transit.
The shipping directorate’s latest report paints a sobering picture of the scale of the disruption. Seventeen Indian-linked vessels remain effectively stranded in the Persian Gulf, west of the Strait, with several others scattered across the Gulf of Oman and the Red Sea. Five of these belong to the state-owned Shipping Corporation of India. While the LPG carrier BW TYR has reached Mumbai and is currently offloading its cargo via ship-to-ship transfer, others, like the BW ELM, have had to be diverted to Ennore port to avoid bottlenecking.
Beyond the cargo, the human cost is substantial. There are estimated to be around 20,500 Indian seafarers who are at present operating in the larger Gulf area, with 504 being employed by Indian registered ships. Although ship owners have managed to evacuate 1,130 seafarers up till now, there are many other seafarers stranded in this war-torn area. There are reports that naval authorities are making extra efforts to help in facilitating the safe departure of all ships that are stranded in this area.
Also read: India only nation to lose mariners in Hormuz crisis: Govt
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