India Receives First Crude Tanker via Hormuz Since War

• First crude tanker reaches India via Hormuz since war.
• Ship carries 135,335 tonnes of Saudi crude to Mumbai.
• Arrival eases fears of oil supply disruption in India.

India has just received its first shipment of crude oil via the Strait of Hormuz since the Iran-US conflict arose, which has momentarily calmed down fears of India’s energy supply getting disrupted. The ship reached Mumbai after going through safely the conflict-inflicted maritime corridor, where shipping movements had drastically fallen owing to security threats.

The tanker, named Shenlong, is laden with approximately 135,335 metric tons of crude oil and reached Mumbai port on Wednesday. As per the Mumbai Port Authority officials, the ship berthed at Jawahar Dweep and has started unloading the crude cargo, which will be sent to the refineries of the Mahul industrial area in eastern Mumbai.

The ship is owned by Shenlong Shipping, and operated by Athens-based Dynacom Tanker Management. It has an international crew with 29 Indian, Pakistani, and Filipino seafarers, while the captain of the ship is an Indian. The port authorities remarked that discharging the crude cargo is likely to last for about 36 hours.

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Shipping via the Strait of Hormuz, which is one of the world's most critical oil transit routes, has been greatly disrupted since the commencement of the conflict. This waterway is responsible for a large percentage of the global energy trade, and the regional tensions have resulted in attacks on ships and warnings dissuading commercial shipping.

Consequently, tanker traffic dropped dramatically and numerous vessels delayed or rerouted their trips. Therefore, the tanker successfully docking is very important for India that depends heavily on oil imports from the Middle East.

A major part of the country’s crude supplies goes through the Strait of Hormuz, hence the security of this route is equally important to have energy security and not facing fuel shortages. The secure arrival of the ship may even help lessen the immediate concerns of india about disruptions in supply and the rise of fuel shortages in the country.