Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Another India-bound LPG tanker crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday evening, taking the total number to 12 while one more was crossing the conflict-hit strait, officials said.The ship that has crossed the Strait has been identified as Symi, a Marshall Islands-flagged vessel, carrying LPG. This is the 11th LPG tanker to transit the Strait and the remaining one was a crude oil tanker.TOI has learnt that Vietnam-flagged NV Sunshine, which was crossing the Strait on Wednesday night, is also carrying LPG. Officials said the vessel is likely to exit the conflict-hit strait early Thursday morning. Marinetraffic shows New Mangaluru Port as the destinatoon of this ship loaded with around 46,000 tonnes cooking gas. It has 24 crew members, all Vietnamese.These are part of the list of 41 vessels that the shipping ministry had prepared for priority evacuation from the Persian Gulf.People aware of the movement of these ships said that the vessels are receiving comprehensive support from multiple agencies, including the Indian Navy.Officials said that 13 Indian-flagged ships are still in the Persian Gulf and efforts are on to evacuate them.Earlier evacuations have involved Indian-flagged or India-linked LPG carriers including Shivalik, Green Sanvi, Nanda Devi and Pine Gas.
