Two of the fourteen India-bound ships carrying crude oil and gas, transiting the Strait of Hormuz, were stopped and fired at by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). After this, 13 of the vessels returned to different locations in the Persian Gulf, official sources privy to the development said. The firing from the two Iranian gunboats came without warning.
An Indian-flag carrying ship, which was hit by bullets fired by the IRGC, had a window pane broken, forcing it to stop the journey and return. The extent of damage to the second vessel was not immediately known, but it had also returned. However, another ship, which was Indian flagged and loaded with crude oil for the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, sailed through the Strait and is now heading towards India, the sources informed.
Gunboats approached the vessel 37 kilometres northeast of Oman, causing other vessels to return without completing the crossing. The incident was reported in waters between the Qeshm and Larak islands, they said.
Out of the 14 India-bound vessels, seven are carrying the Indian flag, four have the Liberian flag, two are of the Marshall Islands, and one is of Vietnam. Six of them are loaded with crude oil, three have LPG, and four are loaded with fertilisers. Among the ships, five are bulk carriers. All 14 vessels were sailing in a row.
Thirteen of them were stopped by the Iranian Navy and were instructed to wait. Out of the 13 stranded vessels, seven vessels are drifting south of Larak Island, waiting for clearance from the Iranian Navy, the sources said.
What is the Indian govt doing?
The Indian government is understood to have been coordinating with the Iranian authorities for the safe voyage of the stranded India-bound ships.
The standoff over the Strait of Hormuz reportedly escalated again on Saturday as Iran reversed its reopening of the crucial waterway and fired on ships attempting to pass. This came as the United States pressed ahead with its blockade of Iranian ports.
Confusion over the Strait, through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passes, threatened to deepen the energy crisis. The ceasefire between Iran and the US is due to run out by mid-next week.
Iran's joint military command said Saturday that "control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state ... under strict management and control of the armed forces." It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.
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