TWO more Indian-flagged LPG tankers, carrying roughly a day’s supply of the country’s cooking gas, have safely navigated through the war-hit Strait of Hormuz and are expected to reach Indian shores over the next two days. LPG tankers Pine Gas and Jag Vasant, sailing close to each other, started from the Persian Gulf on Monday morning before crossing the strait, ship tracking data showed. The two ships are carrying 92,612 tonnes of LPG, said Rajesh Kumar Sinha, Special Secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, at a news briefing. “The movement has started.”

 

The tankers are likely to reach Indian ports between March 26 and March 28. The vessels have 33 and 27 Indian seafarers onboard, according to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. Both the LPG tankers sailed through waters between Iran’s Larak and Qeshm islands -- possibly to make their identity clear to Iranian authorities before they cross the strait, ship tracking data showed. The two ships were among the 22 Indian flagged vessels that were stranded in the Persian Gulf after the war in West Asia nearly closed the Strait of Hormuz -- the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that connects the oil and gas-producing Gulf countries to the rest of the world.