Muscat: The MT Jag Vikram, an India-flagged Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) tanker, crossed the Strait of Hormuz between Friday night and Saturday morning.
This was the first Indian vessel to cross the maritime chokepoint since the two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran was announced, ship tracking data said, as reported by The Indian Express.
The MT Jag Vikram is the ninth Indian ship to exit the Persian Gulf since early March; with another 15 India-flagged vessels still waiting in the Persian Gulf. As of 12 noon (India time) on Saturday, the tanker was in the Gulf of Oman to the east of the Strait, and was sailing eastwards.
According to trade sources, going by its capacity, Jag Vikram could be carrying up around 20,000 tonnes of LPG. The tanker is a mid-sized gas carrier (MGC) owned by Mumbai-based Great Eastern Shipping Company, as per shipping databases. The tanker has a deadweight capacity of over 26,000 tonnes. Deadweight tonnage is the total weight a vessel can carry, including cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, provisions, and crew.
The tanker was reportedly waiting to cross the Strait of Hormuz for over a week now. Scores of vessels have been stranded in the Persian Gulf since the war began, with only a few being able to safely transit the Strait, and that, too, in coordination with Iran.
Of the eight other Indian LPG tankers that have crossed the Strait since the start of hostilities, seven were very large gas carriers (VLGCs), with more than double the LPG carrying capacity than an MGC. One was an MGC. The remaining 15 Indian vessels in the Persian Gulf include at least one more LPG tanker, four crude oil tankers, one liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker, one chemical products tanker, three container ships, two bulk carriers, and a few vessels undergoing routine maintenance.
Officials said that while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, Jag Vikram was signalling that it was an Indian ship with Indian crew on board. Such identity broadcasts have become a standard of sorts among vessels crossing the Strait in coordination with Iranian authorities, which are regulating vessel movements. The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that connects the Persian Gulf with the Arabian Sea; it is a critical maritime chokepoint for global energy flows. Around one-fifth of global oil and gas flows transited the Strait before the war began.
India is among the countries that have been engaged with Iran at the diplomatic level for safe passage of their ships through the Strait of Hormuz, where Tehran brought vessel movements to an effective halt amid the ongoing West Asia war.
