Shivalik, an Indian-flagged LPG provider with a cargo-carrying capability of greater than 54,000 tonnes, has crossed the Strait of Hormuz as on Friday night time (March 13, 2026), in response to marinetraffic.com, a web based portal that tracks service provider ships motion.
As per the web site, the ship had departed from Ras Laffan, Qatar, on March 7 and was initially destined for the U.S. The Indian Navy has denied experiences that the Shivalik is being guided by naval vessels.
The LPG provider is owned by the Transport Company of India. In-built 2008, its first proprietor was Qatar Transport Co. The SCI is the ship’s fifth proprietor, as per the transport database equasis.com.
The Shivalik’s 55,000 tonnes of cargo may quantity to almost one day of India’s LPG imports. The Shivalik and the Sahyadri, one other LPG provider, have been inducted into the SCI’s fleet in August-September of 2025. The Shivalik was among the many 24 ships that have been stranded upstream of Strait of Hormuz because the battle began on February 28. The Sahyadri is at current positioned on the west coast of India.
Earlier at a briefing on Friday (March 13, 2026), a senior authorities official mentioned that of the 28 Indian-flagged ships within the Persian Gulf-Gulf of Oman area that had stopped shifting with the beginning of the West Asia battle on February 28, one oil tanker sure for Africa, Jag Prakash, had began shifting.
The Jag Prakash, an oil merchandise tanker with a carrying capability of 48,000 tonnes cargo and owned by Nice Jap Transport Firm, was among the many 4 ships stranded east of the Strait of Hormuz. Which means that, in contrast to the Shivalik, it didn’t need to cross the strait that the newly elected Iranian Supreme Chief Mojtaba Khamenei has mentioned should stay closed. The Jag Prakash loaded at Sohar port in Oman, and its unique vacation spot was Tanzania.
Three extra Indian-flagged cargo ships with 76 seafarers aboard are nonetheless positioned within the Gulf of Oman, whereas the 23 ships contained in the Persian Gulf west of the Strait of Hormuz proceed to stay stranded, in response to officers.
Transport business leaders have been anticipating reduction and indications from the federal government advising ships to transfer at sea after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on March 12. However the authorities had mentioned the identical day that it was untimely to count on Iran to permit Indian ships to cross the strait.
At a media briefing on Friday (March 13, 2026), Rajesh Kumar Sinha, Particular Secretary, Transport and Waterways Ministry, mentioned there have been 23,000 Indian nationals working within the Persian Gulf area on service provider ships, ports, and offshore vessels. The Directorate Common of Transport was in fixed contact with them and all related stakeholders, he mentioned.
4 Indian sailors have been killed in assaults because the starting of the warfare. On March 11, an Indian seafarer was killed when his ship, Safesea Vishnu, was attacked close to Basra, Iraq, in what has been described as a suicide mission. The remaining 15 Indian crew members are reported to be protected. The house owners of the vessel are based mostly in New Jersey, U.S., and the ship carries the flag of Marshall Island, however the vessel is managed by Bravo Ship Administration based mostly in Chennai, India.
Strait of Hormuz should stay closed, says Iran’s new chief
Within the crosshairs
Crossing the risky strait carries dangers that shippers are unwilling to bear. When the battle began, some 600 ships have been reportedly stranded within the area due to concern of assaults.
Shenlong, the crude oil provider carrying a million barrels of oil that docked in Mumbai on Wednesday (March 11), had crossed the strait on March 8. Experiences have described the perilous journey it undertook to cross the strait in a area the place GPS spoofing and jamming are generally deployed as warfare instruments. Such measures can confuse ships by giving false areas. The ship had apparently gone into “digital darkness” and used guide navigation to securely cross the strait.
When outfitted with the Automated Identification System (AIS) that identifies the vessel and may make the ship simple to trace, it places the carriers in peril of assaults, says Richard Meade, editor-in-chief of Lloyd’s Record, a maritime data journal. “We’ve noticed 77 transits throughout the Strait of Hormuz since March 1, half of whom have been ‘shadow fleet’. Iranian ships carrying fuels proceed to cross the strait. Seventeen have been ‘darkish transits’, which implies the AIS of the ship was switched off, and a few of them have been mainstream fleet vessels similar to Shenlong,” he mentioned.
Although it could be anticipated that vessels affiliated with the U.S., Israel, and Europe can be focused by Iran, there was no sample within the 16 ships which were attacked to this point, he says. “That is in contrast to within the Purple Sea the place the Houthis focused ships that had sure affiliations,” says Mr. Meade.
Train restraint
In the meantime, the Union authorities has expressed concern over unverified experiences about vessels working within the Gulf area and the Strait of Hormuz being circulated throughout social media and messaging platforms.
In an advisory, the Directorate Common of Transport (DGS) mentioned the circulation of unconfirmed and speculative data was inflicting pointless anxiousness and misery amongst seafarers and their members of the family.
“Accountable communication will assist stop misinformation, scale back panic amongst seafarers and their households, and preserve confidence inside the maritime group throughout this delicate interval,” the advisory issued a couple of days in the past to maritime stakeholders and seafarers group mentioned.
The DGS urged all maritime stakeholders, transport corporations, worker unions and people to train restraint and accountability whereas sharing data associated to maritime incidents or safety developments within the area.
It underlined the necessity to chorus from forwarding or publishing unverified data and be certain that solely authenticated updates from official sources and competent authorities have been disseminated.
“The Directorate Common of Transport continues to carefully monitor the scenario in coordination with related authorities and dealing along with stakeholders to make sure that solely correct and verified data reaches the seafarer group,” the advisory mentioned.
With inputs from Vijay Kumar
Revealed – March 14, 2026 12:51 am IST
