India-bound oil tanker crosses Strait of Hormuz

An India-bound oil tanker, Nissos Keros, has cleared the Strait of Hormuz amid a geopolitical maritime crisis. Iran's IRGC allowed the transit following formal coordination, though ongoing tensions and proposed transit fees continue to disrupt global energy traffic 

New York: An oil tanker carrying sorely needed petroleum for India has cleared the Strait of Hormuz, according to several sites that track maritime traffic.

The Nissos Keros is on its way to Vishakapatnam and is expected to reach its destination on June 3, according to multiple sites.

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The ship, flying under the Marshall Islands flag, left Shajrah on May 21 and was reported at 6 am Indian Standard Time on Friday in the Northern Arabian Sea off the west coast of India.

Iran’s news agency IRNA reported on Thursday that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Navy allowed 23 commercial vessels, including oil tankers and container ships, to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in the previous 24-hour period.

It said that according to the Iranian military, “all transits were conducted following formal coordination with IRGC naval authorities”.

It was unclear whether the ships had to pay a fee to pass through the Strait. Iran, which has said it would require payments to cross the Strait, announced earlier this month that it was setting up an agency, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), to regulate maritime traffic in the area.

The United Nations has declared it illegal to levy fees for sailing through international waters. The US has demanded that Iran restore free navigation through the Strait, which Tehran has mined and attacked ships on it after the US joined Israel in bombing Iran in February. Free navigation through the Strait is a major issue holding up a deal to end the Iran war.

“The Strait is going to be open to everybody”, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday.

Iran’s action has put a chokehold on 20 per cent of the world’s gas and oil that go through it, creating a global energy and economic crisis.

Out of the blue, Trump threatened on Wednesday to blow up Oman, which is across the Strait from Iran, if it made an arrangement with Tehran to collect fees to transit it. Aukevisser, which keeps a roster of ship information, lists Nissos Keros’s owner as Arethusa Shipping Corporation and the operator as Kyklades Maritime Corporation.

The Hyundai-built ship is 333 meters long and has a capacity of 318,744 tonnes or 338,648 cubic metres, according to it.

According to the International Maritime Organisation’s Secretary-General, Arsenio Dominguez, about 1,500 ships are trapped in the Persian Gulf.