Kamal Ghorui
One more India-flagged LPG carrier, Green Asha, reached Indian shores on Thursday, after crossing the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week. The vessel, carrying 15,400 tonnes of LPG, docked at the BPCL-IOCL liquid berth at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA). It is the first such tanker to dock at JNPA since the outbreak of the war involving Iran, the United States and Israel.The vessel, its cargo and all crew members are safe and secure. The arrival comes at a time when shipping operations in the Middle Eastern region are under strain amid the Iran-US war.Earlier, the seventh India-flagged LPG tanker, Green Sanvi, also crossed the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, the Centre has maintained that the domestic LPG supply situation remains stable and under control. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has directed states and Union territories to double the daily supply of 5-kg Free Trade LPG (FTL) cylinders for migrant labourers.In a letter to chief secretaries, petroleum secretary Neeraj Mittal said the additional cylinders would be distributed exclusively to migrant workers with the support of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).At an inter-ministerial briefing on developments in the Middle East, Sujata Sharma, joint secretary in the petroleum ministry, dismissed concerns over shortages. “…No dryout has been reported in LPG distributor ships, all the petrol pumps are operating normally… No dryout has been reported in the petrol pumps also…6500 tonnes of commercial LPG sold yesterday…1300 awareness camps have been organised by the oil marketing companies for the past four days… Companies have sold 10,005 cylinders… The awareness camps aim to provide information on the availability of 5 kg cylinders to consumers,” Sharma said.She added that 6,500 tonnes of commercial LPG were sold on Monday to meet demand, while petrol pumps across the country continue to function normally.At the onset of the conflict, 28 India-flagged vessels were present in the Strait of Hormuz region. So far, 10 of them, eight from the western side and two from the eastern side, have completed their transit safely.Since February 28, when the United States and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran, the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz has remained under Tehran’s control. Iran’s actions disrupted key energy routes, triggering ripple effects across global oil markets, as nearly one-fifth of the world’s energy supplies pass through the narrow waterway.
