Five LPG carriers, all Indian flagged and bound for India, are anchored north off Dubai-Ras Al Khaimah, just southwest of the Strait of Hormuz, as per ship tracker websites.
Appearing to bunch together so they can troop out of the strait, these ships carry more than 1.7 lakh tonnes of LPG — equivalent to nearly six days of India’s current import requirements. But they were not moving on a day Iran seemed to clamp down on any ship movement across the strait after earlier saying it would approve ships of friendly countries to pass through.
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On Friday (March 27, 2026), Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said that they had turned back three ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz, adding the route was closed to vessels travelling to and from ports linked to its “enemies”. “This morning, following the lies of the corrupt U.S. President claiming that the Strait of Hormuz was open, three container ships of different nationalities... were turned back after a warning from the IRGC Navy,” the Guards said on their Sepah News website. A total of 26 ships have been approved by Iran to transit the strait recently, using a route around Larak Island just off the country’s coast, dubbed the “Tehran toll booth” by leading shipping journal Lloyd’s List. Most were Greek- and Chinese-owned, as well as other Indian-, Pakistani- and Syrian-owned vessels.
Iran had previously announced that ships of India and some other countries — Russia, Iraq, Pakistan, China and Thailand — can pass the strait. However, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi had said that the U.S., Israel and some Gulf States involved in the current war will not be allowed to pass through the strait.
(With inputs from AFP)