A second vessel carrying liquified petroleum gas from the Persian Gulf reached India’s west coast early on Tuesday after safely transiting the troubled Strait of Hormuz, offering some relief amid growing shortages of the cooking fuel that 333 million Indian households rely on. MT Nanda Devi, chartered by the Indian Oil Corp, is one of the two LPG tankers, owned by India, that was permitted by Iran to transit the Strait of Hormuz. (AFP)

The state-owned, medium-range carrier, MT Nanda Devi, steamed into an offshore anchorage point with 46,500 tonnes of LPG around 2 am, where its crew were immediately offered health checks and refreshments. Almost immediately, the cargo was processed for onward transportation.

The cargo is enough to fill 3.3 million 14.2 kg cylinders of LPG. India imports 60-65% of its LPG requirement, although following the West Asian crisis, it has asked domestic refiners to make more LPG, and the petroleum ministry said on Tuesday that domestic production has increased by 38%. Daily bookings on Monday were around 7 million. A decision was taken to hold the vessel offshore near Vadinar instead of berthing it at Kandla port, its flagged destination, to cut down on turnaround time by transferring cargo directly to another ship, according to Deendayal port chairman Sushil Kumar Singh.

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“Ship-to-ship transfer helps save time and is done as a routine practice also,” Singh said.

The cargo was loaded on MT BW BIRCH that sailed to Chennai, avoiding land transportation, a shipping directorate official said separately. MT Nanda Devi, chartered by the Indian Oil Corp, is one of the two LPG tankers --both owned by the Shipping Corporation of India --that was permitted by Iran to transit the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway for global trade through which about half of India’s crude and over three-fourths of LPG imports pass.

It loaded LPG on March 1 from Qatar’s Ras Laffan, a large facility that has been hit by Iran. Together, the two tankers hauled 92714 tonnes of gas supplies. On Monday, the first vessel, India-flagged Shivalik, reached the Mundra port in the west coast after clearing the hazardous strait following intense diplomatic efforts by the government for a safe passage to the tankers.

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Both tankers used their transponders to signal that they were Indian government-owned vessels, the second official said, after being cleared to cross the narrow waterway, where Iran has imposed a blockade on maritime traffic, triggering a global energy crisis.

“I thank our government and the shipping ministry. I also thank the Indian navy for facilitating this voyage,” MT Nanda Devi’s chief officer Sanjay Prashar said. The seafarer said the Iranian navy cooperated with the ship with navigation help inside the Strait of Hormuz.

India is among the economies most vulnerable to the West Asia crisis as it imports most of its crude and gas supplies from Gulf nations. An LPG shortage has hit industrial consumers and restaurants as the government has prioritised gas distribution for domestic users to shield households. “Major ports are prioritising berthing for LPG vessels to ensure timely discharge of cargo and continuity in energy supply,” shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal said, after interacting with the crew of Shivalik and Nanda Devi. “Your efforts ensured the safe passage of critical LPG cargo,” a statement quoted the minister as saying.