A vessel transporting 20,000 metric tonnes of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) has safely arrived at the Deendayal Port Authority in Kandla on the Gujarat coast. The ship, named MV SYMI and flagged by the Marshall Islands, commenced its journey from Qatar and reached Kandla around 11.30 pm on Saturday after crossing the Strait of Hormuz on May 13.
Since early March, 13 India-flagged vessels, including 12 LPG tankers and one crude oil tanker, have navigated through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway near Oman’s coast that typically handles a significant portion of global oil and gas exports. However, the ongoing conflict in West Asia, which began on February 28 with joint US and Israel attacks on Iran, has severely disrupted ship movements in the region.
The conflict has led to one of the most severe energy crises in recent times, impacting global energy supplies. India has strongly denounced the attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, labeling them as ‘unacceptable.’ At a special meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council focusing on safeguarding global energy and supply flows, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Parvathaneni Harish, emphasized that targeting civilian crews and impeding navigation freedom cannot be justified.
Harish’s statements followed an attack on an India-flagged commercial vessel off the Oman coast on May 13. Although Omani authorities successfully rescued all 14 crew members of the vessel traveling from Somalia, the perpetrators of the attack remain unidentified. The incident occurred amidst escalating tensions in West Asia and growing apprehensions regarding security in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital passage for nearly one-fifth of the world’s energy resources.
