Pine Gas, one of the LPG tankers that recently sailed the Strait of Hormuz, reportedly loaded cargo at the UAE port of Ruwais just one day before the war began.
The Indian-flagged LPG tanker, which was expected to return home within a week, has been delayed more than three times that long due to unrest in the Strait of Hormuz, caused by the ongoing conflict between Iran and the United States.
Pine Gas, one of the LPG tankers that recently sailed the tense waterway, reportedly loaded cargo at the UAE port of Ruwais just a day before Israel and the United States launched a surprise attack on Iran, sparking a war that has since affected several Gulf states. Follow live updates about the war between Iran and the United States here.
Pine Gas’s voyage was delayed due to tensions between Iran and the United States that have disrupted ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, raising concerns about oil around the world. The tanker delay has become more serious amid fears of LPG shortage in India.
However, the ship with a crew of 27 managed to cross and, along with another Indian-flagged ship Jag Vasant, managed to transport LPG to India. As HT reported earlier, while JAG Vasant reached Kandla carrying 47,612 tonnes of LPG, Pine Gas arrived in New Mangalore carrying 45,000 tonnes of LPG.
An unusual route to India
While Pine Gas was able to reach India, the journey was fraught with danger for the ship and its crew, who reportedly saw “missiles and drones flying overhead” every day as they waited for clearance to move.
Sohan Lal, chief official of Pine Gas, told the news agency Reuters The ship was scheduled to sail on March 11, but the raging Iranian-American conflict delayed the voyage and the ship was not allowed to move until March 23.
According to Lal, the ship was not allowed to pass through normal shipping routes in Hormuz, but was asked by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to sail in a narrow channel north of Larak Island, off the Iranian coast.
Indian authorities and the ship’s owner, Mumbai-based Seven Island Shipping, have left the decision up to the ship’s crew. “They needed a yes or no from all the crew members,” Reuters quoted Lal as saying. “Everyone on board agreed.”
Indian warships escorted the ship, without any charges
According to a Reuters report, Pine Gas was escorted into the Arabian Sea from the Gulf of Oman by four Indian warships that monitored the traffic for 20 hours.
The Indian government had previously said that it would deploy more warships in the Gulf of Oman for the safe passage of its fuel tankers, as it expected Iran to allow them to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Pine Gas chief officer also said that no toll was charged for the vessel’s passage. India had previously clarified that Iran did not get anything “in exchange” for allowing its ships to pass. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said there was no “comprehensive arrangement” with Iran on the issue Financial Times.
Poorva Joshi is a senior content producer with nearly five years of experience in the field of journalism. It covers Indian politics and geopolitics, with an emphasis on diplomatic relations, trade negotiations and economic policy between countries. She previously worked at India Today, CNN-News18 and India TV. Over the years, she has reported extensively on major national and international developments, including the Indian Airlines plane crash, the Pahalgam terror attack, India-US trade tensions, tensions in the Middle East, high-profile crime stories in India, multiple state Assembly elections, and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. She led the live blog of the Bihar Assembly elections, which attracted over a million users to the Hindustan Times website. Her reporting on trade tensions and tariffs between India and the US has continuously increased readership and engagement on the platform. In addition to reporting, she has spent much of her career leading newsroom transformations, ideating stories, editing and fine-tuning copy, seeing coverage from planning to publication, along with writing original articles. At HT, she received the Insta Award for being the top contributor to the HT News team in November.Read more
