NEW DELHI: The Indian-flagged LPG tanker Pine Gas transporting 47,000 tonnes of cooking fuel from the Persian Gulf is expected to dock at Vizag port in the early hours of Thursday after changing its destination to deliver its cargo faster, officials said.
“It is expected to arrive early tomorrow. We are fully prepared for its arrival,” a Vizag Port Authority spokesman said. He added that the deepwater facility contains fully equipped LPG processing units that comply with PESO (Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization) standards.
LPG and natural gas tankers are given priority to dock over other ships, according to a shipping ministry directive, as Asia’s third-largest economy faces widespread supply disruptions due to the West Asia war.
The 227-metre-long refrigerated ship was earlier scheduled to arrive at Dhamra port in Odisha on April 1, but its original destination was New Mangalore. A ship’s east coast route around the southern tip of the Indian peninsula is much longer than for ships calling at ports on the west coast.
A second official said sailing north to Damra would have made the trip longer. “Such changes occur for operational reasons. Operators and the government are constantly coordinating. Sea state is also a factor in navigation.”
Amid the global shipping chaos, major Indian ports have created additional space to handle traffic, the second official said. These include Vizag Port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, V O Chidambaranar Port Authority, Mundra, Deendayal Port Authority, New Mangalore Port Authority, Cochin Port Authority and Chennai Port Authority.
The Pine Gas ship had sailed from Ghantoot in the United Arab Emirates with another LPG tanker, the Jag Vasant, and safely crossed the Strait of Hormuz after it was allowed to pass by Iran, which imposed a near-total blockade on maritime traffic through the vital waterway. The Indian-flagged ship Jag Vasant arrived at Vadinar Naval Station on the west coast on March 28.
