The Jag Vikram (IMO: 9324734) has successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz, making it the first Indian-flagged vessel to do so since the start of the two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran.
According to Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), Sarbananda Sonowal, the India-bound vessel is carrying 20,412 metric tonnes (MT) of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and is helmed by a 24-member crew of Indian origin.
The vessel, which began its latest voyage from the Port of Al Rams in the UAE, is scheduled to reach the coast of Mumbai on April 15.
Owned by the Mumbai-based Great Eastern Shipping Company, the Jag Vikram is a Handymax (mid-sized) tanker with a capacity of over 26,000 deadweight tonnage (dwt).
It is also the ninth Indian-flagged ship overall to transit the embattled Strait of Hormuz, with 15 more vessels awaiting clearance to exit the crucial maritime chokepoint.
Notably, the voyage of the Jag Vikram has been delayed by a week, as it was originally expected to cross the strait alongside another LPG tanker called the Green Asha (IMO: 9326598).
However, the Green Asha transited the strait in its solo voyage on April 5, after which it docked at the BPCL-IOCL liquid berth of Mumbai's Nhava Sheva Port (Jawaharlal Nehru Port) on Thursday. It had been carrying 15,400 MT of LPG.
Seven of the eight other Indian-flagged LPG tankers that crossed the strait over the past few weeks were very large gas carriers (VLGCs), while one was a Midsize Gas Carrier (MGC).
The 15 Indian-origin vessels still stranded in the Middle East include at least one more LPG tanker, four crude oil tankers, one liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker, one chemical products tanker, three container ships, two bulk carriers, and a few vessels undergoing routine maintenance, as per an Indian Express report.
This comes amid strains in the US-Iran ceasefire, as Donald Trump continues with his explosive rhetoric against Tehran, which uses the Strait of Hormuz as one of its main negotiating instruments in the ongoing ceasefire talks at Islamabad.