Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Amid the crisis in West Asia, two vessels – LPG tanker Pyxis Pioneer, carrying 16,714 tonnes of LPG from the US, and oil tanker Aqua Titan, carrying 96,099 tonnes of Russian crude – arrived at New Mangalore Port on Sunday.Mangaluru has India’s largest underground LPG storage facility of 80,000 tonnes, which became operational in Sept 2025.
Pyxis Pioneer, which left the Port of Nederland in Texas on Feb 14, is discharging the cooking gas. The port’s authority has waived cargo-related charges for LPG and crude oil from March 14 to 31.According to ship tracker Marine Traffic, the Cameroon-flagged Aqua Titan arrived at the port around 11.30am, barely four days after reports claimed that the Russian oil-laden tanker was originally headed for the Chinese port of Rizhao, but changed its course and headed to India. What made it change course was unclear.News agency Bloomberg, quoting data from Vortexa, had said at least seven tankers, including Aqua Titan, carrying Russian oil had switched their destinations mid-voyage from China.In response to a question last week, Rajesh Sinha, special secretary in the shipping ministry, had said Aqua Titan had been “chartered by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited” and it was expected to arrive at New Mangalore Port.
