The Strait of Hormuz remains under tight security as Iran’s IRGC demands authorization for shipping movements. (AP file photo)
Deepening the crisis over the Strait of Hormuz, Iran Saturday reversed its stand on reopening the key waterway and its navy fired on passing vessels, two of them India-flagged carriers, according to maritime tracking data.
In New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs summoned the Iranian envoy to lodge a protest over the targeting of Indian vessels, and conveyed “deep concern”.
“The Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in New Delhi was called in by the Ministry of External Affairs for a meeting with Foreign Secretary this evening. During the meeting, Foreign Secretary conveyed India’s deep concern at the shooting incident earlier today involving two Indian-flagged ships in the Strait of Hormuz. He noted the importance that India attached to the safety of merchant shipping and mariners and recalled that Iran had earlier facilitated the safe passage of several ships bound for India,” Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said.
“Reiterating his concern at this serious incident of firing on merchant ships, Foreign Secretary urged the Ambassador to convey India’s views to the authorities in Iran and resume at the earliest the process of facilitating India-bound ships across the Strait. The Ambassador of Iran undertook to convey these views to the Iranian authorities,” he said.
With the naval arm of the Revolutionary Guards announcing the closure of the strait again – this was in retaliation over the US refusal to lift its blockade of the strait until Iran agreed to its terms a peace deal – there was confusion all around.
A day earlier, Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, citing the temporary truce between Israel and Tehran-backed Hezbollah, announced that the “passage of all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire”.
A number of merchant vessels, including a few India-flagged ships, turned back into the Persian Gulf after seemingly trying to cross the strait, as per ship tracking data. At least one tanker came under fire from Iranian gunboats, forcing it to turn around and abort its attempt to transit the narrow waterway that links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman.
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But a few vessels, including an Indian oil tanker Desh Garima, appeared to have successfully crossed the strait Saturday, the data shows.
Shipping Corporation of India (SCI)-owned Desh Garima is the tenth India-flagged vessel to have crossed the strait since early March. As of Saturday evening, it was sailing in the Gulf of Oman, according to ship tracking data from maritime data and intelligence platform MarineTraffic.
With its transit through the strait, there are now 14 India-flagged vessels in the Persian Gulf. At least four India-flagged vessels – oil tankers Sanmar Herald, Desh Vaibhav, and Desh Vibhor, and bulk carrier Jag Arnav – were among the ships attempting to cross the strait but appeared to have turned back after Iran said the chokepoint was closed again, MarineTraffic data shows.
Desh Vaibhav and Desh Vibhor are owned by the state-owned SCI, and Sanmar Herald belongs to Chennai-based Sanmar Shipping. Jag Arnav is owned by Mumbai-based Great Eastern Shipping Company.
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The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Operations Centre issued a warning for ships in the area, saying that a tanker reported being approached by two Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) gunboats and then being fired upon in the strait’s waters 20 nautical miles northeast of Oman. “Tanker and crew are reported safe. Authorities are investigating,” it said, without identifying the tanker that reported it had come under IRGC fire.
TankerTrackers.com reported that two Indian-flagged vessels were forced to turn around after being fired on by Iran, including a supertanker carrying Iraqi oil.
Scores of commercial vessels with thousands of seafarers have been stuck in the Persian Gulf since the West Asia war began on February 28 as vessel movements through the Strait of Hormuz ground to a halt after warnings from Iran; a few ships had also come under attack.
