How LPG tanker 'Pine Gas' reached India after tense transit through Hormuz Strait amid war in the Gulf

The Indian-flagged LPG tanker Pine Gas (IMO: 9315680) arrived at the Visakhapatnam Port on Thursday, in a harrowing journey that should have taken a week, but took nearly a month instead.

According to the India-bound ship's Chief Officer Sohan Lal, the tanker—which had been carrying 45,000 metric tonnes of LPG and 27 Indian crew members—had taken an unusual route to reach exit the Hormuz Strait, guided by both the Indian Navy and the naval forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

This comes as the strait remains 'closed' to ships linked to the US and its allies, with safe passage granted only to vessels from friendly countries like India, China, and Pakistan.

According to Lal, the Pine Gas had been loaded at the UAE's Ruwais Port in Abu Dhabi, with March 11 as the expected date for the journey.

However, escalations in the war pushed the date as far forward as March 23.

When the Indian Oil-chartered ship finally got clearance to transit the strait, the IRGC, however, had a condition: instead of the usual route through the strait, the vessel had to pass through the narrow passageway between Iran's southern coast and the north of Larak Island.

Then Indian authorities and the ship’s owner, Mumbai‑based Seven Islands Shipping, said that the vessel would proceed on that unusual route only if every crew member agreed to it.

“They needed a yes or a no from all crew ... Everyone onboard ​agreed,” Lal said, as per a Reuters report,which noted that the IRGC had suggested the Larak route because regular passage through the Hormuz Strait was mined.

Lal added that the vessel remained safe, and that no taxes were levied from it, as it received guidance from the Indian Navy during the tense transit.

Four Indian Navy warships also escorted the tanker after it exited the strait for about 20 hours, till it reached the Arabian Sea.

The Pine Gas was also scheduled to offload its cargo at the busy New Mangalore Port, which has received a lot of Indian-flagged vessels that have exited the strait amid the war—but was later re-routed to the Visakhapatnam and Haldia Ports.