New Delhi: Two Indian-flagged oil tankers turned back from the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday after firing from Iranian gunboats prompted a tenth Indian-flagged oil tanker to transit the strait. Desh Garima is en route to Mumbai port carrying crude oil. Iran has been allowing Indian ships to pass through occasionally since it decided last month to block the key energy strait during its war with the United States and Israel that began on February 28. Ship details provided by Maritime Traffic showed that several Indian and foreign-flagged vessels bound for Indian ports were still waiting to cross the Strait of Hormuz. Official data shows that there are 13 Indian ships in the Persian Gulf (west of Hormuz), six in the Gulf of Oman (east of Hormuz), one in the Gulf of Aden and three in the Red Sea. According to the Ministry of Petroleum, 17 ships have been identified as requiring evacuation, including four LPG carriers, three LNG carriers and 10 crude oil tankers. Three of them are flying Indian flags and the remaining 14 are flying foreign flags. Similarly, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has prepared a list of 16 more evacuation vessels, including an Indian-flagged vessel (Jag Arnav), which was attacked by the IRGC on Saturday. As of Saturday, there were 499 Indian seafarers on board Indian-flagged vessels in the Persian Gulf, including 343 west of the Strait of Hormuz and 156 in the Gulf of Oman, officials said. So far, shipping companies have evacuated 2,487 seafarers. Ships trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday received radio messages from the Iranian navy telling them they were not allowed to pass, while two vessels reported being shot at, Reuters reported. Several commercial ships attempted to pass through the strait, a day after a notice was issued to mariners that passage would be allowed but only on routes deemed safe by Iran.
