Govt plans evacuation of 18 vessels from Gulf amid easing tensions

At present 15 Indian vessels are still in the Persian Gulf region (west of Strait of Hormuz), another three are in the Gulf of Oman (east of Strait of Hormuz), three in the Gulf of Aden and two of them in the Red Sea. Of these, 6 SCI crude oil tankers are in the Persian Gulf region

Mumbai: The ministry of petroleum and natural gas on Wednesday identified 18 vessels trapped in war-torn Persian Gulf for speedy evacuation. According to the report submitted by directorate of shipping in Mumbai, five of these 18 vessels are Indian-flagged. These 18 vessels include four LPG carriers, three LNG carriers and 11 crude oil tankers.

Govt plans evacuation of 18 vessels from Gulf amid easing tensions

As per the report the ministry of ports, shipping & waterways (MoPSW), directorate of naval operations (DNO), the ministry of petroleum and natural gas (MoPNG), Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) are working in tandem to evacuate these vessels from the region. They will be escorted by the Indian navy.

At present 15 Indian vessels are still in the Persian Gulf region (west of Strait of Hormuz), another three are in the Gulf of Oman (east of Strait of Hormuz), three in the Gulf of Aden and two of them in the Red Sea. Of these, 6 SCI crude oil tankers are in the Persian Gulf region.

Meanwhile LPG carrier Green Asha which safely transited north of the Strait of Hormuz on April 5 is enroute Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority off Mumbai and is expected to reach the city in the early hours of Thursday. All ports in the country have been told to allow priority berthing to LPG carriers

The report also said that approximately 20,000 Indian seafarers are stranded in the Persian Gulf out of which 475 are on Indian flagged vessels (397 in the Persian Gulf region and 78 in Gulf of Oman); 1754 seafarers have been evacuated by various shipping companies from the Gulf region as on April 8

The report also said that there is 1,06,890 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit—the standardised unit of measurement to calculate cargo capacity for container ships and container ports) of containers and cargo piled up at various Indian ports and 3724 tons of perishable cargo.

Indian ports have temporarily stopped receiving exports for the Gulf sector to prevent port congestion caused by delayed evacuations and are considering waivers/concessions in anchorage charges and berth hire for vessels requiring extended stays.

The ports have also been told to allow safe anchorage area for loaded vessels bound for the Gulf that are currently unable to transit, the report said