Two Indian-flagged vessels carrying LPG from the Gulf countries safely crossed the war-hit Strait of Hormuz early on Saturday morning, a senior Shipping Ministry official said.
LPG carriers Shivalik and Nanda Devi are now headed to Mundra and Kandla ports in Gujarat, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, Special Secretary in Ministry of Shipping, told a media briefing.
The vessels are carrying 92,700 tonne of LPG and are likely to dock at Indian ports on March 16/17, he said.
The two vessels were among the 24 ships that were stranded on the west side of the strait since the war broke out in the region.
Iran has continued to launch widespread missile and drone attacks on Israel and neighbouring Gulf states, and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes, even as US and Israeli warplanes pummel military and other targets across Iran.
The humanitarian crisis in Lebanon deepened, with nearly 800 people killed and 850,000 displaced as Israel launched waves of strikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants and warned there would be no let-up.
Trump said US forces on Friday “obliterated” targets on Iran’s Kharg Island, which is home to the primary terminal that handles the country’s oil exports. The speaker of the Iranian parliament had warned that such strikes would provoke a new level of retaliation.
Meanwhile, an American official said 2,500 more Marines and an amphibious assault ship are being sent to the Middle East nearly two weeks into the war with the Islamic Republic.
