About 20 days after the United States closed the Strait of Hormuz, a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier bound for India has passed through the strait for the first time.
On the 3rd (local time), according to Bloomberg, the Indian Express and other foreign media, the very large LPG carrier Sarv Shakti, registered in the Marshall Islands, passed through the Strait of Hormuz the day before and entered the Gulf of Oman. MarineTraffic, a vessel-tracking website, also confirmed the ship's route.
The vessel is carrying about 45,000 tons (t) of LPG, and its automatic identification system (AIS) indicated it as a ship bound for India with Indian crew on board. The cargo owner is known to be Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), India's state-run oil company.
This voyage is the first instance of an India-related energy carrier exiting the strait since the United States moved to close the Strait of Hormuz on the 13th of last month after talks with Iran broke down. The ship is understood to have departed from Gantout Port in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and sailed along the Iranian side of the route.
However, it was not confirmed whether the ship paid a transit fee to the Iranian side. Earlier, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) warned shipping companies worldwide that they could face sanctions if they pay Iran for safe passage or seek assurances to avoid attacks.
The volume of LPG transported this time is equivalent to about half a day of India's consumption before the United States carried out airstrikes on Iran at the end of February. The Indian Express said, "With this passage, expectations are growing that more energy will be supplied to India in the future."
India has relied on the Strait of Hormuz for about 40% of its crude oil imports, more than 50% of its liquefied natural gas (LNG), and as much as 90% of its LPG imports. But the U.S.-Iran clashes and the closure of the strait have blocked major import routes, creating a severe energy supply crunch. In response, the Indian government has moved to raise domestic LPG production to about 54,000 tons per day.
Even now, 14 Indian ships are stuck around the Persian Gulf, and foreign ships that were headed to India are also stranded. From the outbreak of war until the closure, eight India-flagged LNG carriers and one tanker passed through the strait, but the route was effectively cut off afterward, causing continued supply disruptions.