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A day after three vessels — including an Indian-flagged crude oil tanker — crossed the Strait of Hormuz, the Indian-flagged bulk carrier APJ Priti 2 transited it on Saturday via the Iran route, according to an Indian government status report. The vessel was carrying 65,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser cargo and held serial number 9 on the shipping directorate’s earlier evacuation priority list.
The transit came hours after a tanker carrying Qatari oil was struck within the strait — the second attack on a merchant ship this week — prompting naval authorities to raise the regional threat level to “substantial.”
The UK Maritime Trade Operations centre said the vessel sustained bridge damage from an unidentified projectile; the crew were safe and there was no environmental damage. The Joint Maritime Information Centre (JMIC), which liaises between navies and merchant shipping, issued the elevated threat assessment after Thursday’s strike on the container ship Ever Lovely had already prompted the US to retaliate against Iran, with Tehran saying it struck US assets in turn.
The International Maritime Organization had separately warned on Friday that around 80 mines could have been laid in the strait; under its agreement with the US, Iran is meant to take responsibility for their removal, though it remains unclear how much of that has been carried out.
Fifteen vessels of Indian interest remain stranded in the Persian Gulf, west of the strait, and have been identified for evacuation, the directorate said in the same report. These comprise one energy cargo vessel, identified by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas (MoPNG); four fertiliser-carrying vessels, identified by the department of fertilisers under the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers (MoCF); and ten other vessels of Indian interest, identified by the directorate general of shipping (DGS) under the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways (MoPSW).
As of Saturday, ten Indian vessels were positioned in the Persian Gulf, west of the strait.
A total of 44 vessels carrying cargo bound for India have transited the strait so far — 19 of them between March 1 and June 17, and 25 more since the Iran-US memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on June 17.
The total includes 17 Indian-flagged and 27 foreign-flagged vessels, the latter spread across the Marshall Islands (7), Liberia (6), Panama (4), Portugal (2), and one each from Malta, the Cayman Islands, Greece, Gibraltar, Vietnam, Singapore, China and Hong Kong.
By vessel type, the transits comprised 15 bulk carriers, 13 LPG carriers, 11 crude oil tankers, two LNG carriers, one container vessel, one oil/chemical tanker and one diving support vessel.
No vessels bound for West Asia are currently waiting at Indian ports, major or otherwise, the directorate said. Chabahar port remains operational.
A total of 452 Indian seafarers are onboard Indian-flagged vessels in the Persian Gulf region — 226 to the west of the strait and 226 in the Gulf of Oman. Separately, 3,757 seafarers have been evacuated by shipping companies to date.
The directorate recorded four incidents involving Indian-flagged vessels and 19 involving foreign-flagged vessels with Indian crew, together resulting in seven fatalities, one presumed death and four injuries. The situation is being closely monitored in coordination with the Indian Navy, the directorate said, adding that continuous engagement is being maintained with seafarers’ families and that a 24×7 DG Communication Centre control room remains operational.
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