New Delhi: The Indian-flagged vessel Desh Garima laden with crude oil transited the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday afternoon, while two other vessels – Sanmar Herald and Jag Arnav – came under fire from Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vessels while passing through the conflict-affected route. No crew members were injured.Desh Garima is the tenth Indian-flagged ship to cross the channel and is heading to Mumbai port. 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 the Strait of Hormuz), six in the Gulf of Oman (east of the Strait of Hormuz), one in the Gulf of Aden, and three in the Red Sea.According to the list of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, 17 ships have been identified as requiring evacuation, including 4 LPG carriers, 3 LNG carriers and 10 crude oil tankers. Three of them are Indian-flagged vessels and the remaining 14 are foreign-flagged vessels.Similarly, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has also 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.
