\n\tBy Weilun Soon and Rakesh Sharma<\/p>\n
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\n\tAn India-linked supertanker laden with liquefied petroleum gas is attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, a rare crossing that underscores the country\u2019s struggle to alleviate a historic energy crisis.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Marshall Islands-flagged Sarv Shakti \u2014 laden with around 45,000 tons of LPG, commonly used as cooking fuel \u2014 appeared to move northward through the waterway, toward and then past Iran\u2019s Larak and Qeshm islands on Saturday, in the direction of the Gulf of Oman, according to ship-tracking data.<\/p>\n
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\tThe very large gas carrier has previously made runs between the Persian Gulf and Indian ports and is broadcasting that it is heading to the country and has Indian crew, a safety measure frequently adopted by ships since the Iran war began.\u00a0
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\n\t\tState-run Indian Oil Corp. was listed as the buyer of the cargo, according to a shipping document seen by Bloomberg. IOC did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tIf successful, Sarv Shakti\u2019s passage would mark the first observed passage by an India-linked tanker since a week-old US blockade of ships tied to Iran began, pushing transits through Hormuz back down to nearly zero. It will also be one of the largest carriers to make the outbound crossing since a chaotic weekend last month, when the strait was briefly opened and then rapidly closed.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tAs the world\u2019s third-largest oil importer and the second-biggest consumer of LPG, India has scrambled to fill the supply gap left by Middle East producers. Acute shortages of the cooking fuel have triggered panic, queues and pared-down menus.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tNew Delhi has focused on the safe passage of LPG carriers since the US and Israel began strikes on Iran at the end of February, even ordering its own ports to prioritise these tankers for berthing and discharging, while cranking up domestic production.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tMomentum was disrupted, however, by the April weekend when Iran initially said the thoroughfare was restored, only for its military to shoot at ships attempting to cross, forcing many to U-turn. One India-linked vessel, Aframax-sized crude tanker Desh Garima slipped through, though only by switching off its transponder signals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tSince then, traffic has returned to a near-standstill in Hormuz.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tIndia has managed to move eight LPG vessels through Hormuz during the conflict after bilateral negotiations with Tehran, and has been working on other exits.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tIndia has also raised domestic production of LPG by 60% to 54,000 tons in order to cope. Its consumption has dropped by 10,000 tons to 80,000 tons daily, Oil Minister Hardeep Puri said Friday.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tRead More: New Delhi Street Stalls Show the Cost of India\u2019s Energy Crunch<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tSarv Shakti entered the Persian Gulf in early February. It received its cargo via a ship-to-ship transfer off Dubai, but Bloomberg News could not immediately identify the exact origin of the cargo.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tSarv Shakti\u2019s full transit of Hormuz could take about 10 to 14 hours. Electronic interference in the region can falsify the apparent position of a ship. Some ships may also spoof, or go dark, during transits, in order to hide their tracks.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tDubai-based Foresight Group Services Ltd. is listed as the carrier\u2019s manager, with its owner Zhe Yin Shan Zhou No. 4 Tianjin that shares the same address, on the database Equasis. Foresight Group did not immediately respond to a query submitted via its website.<\/p>\n
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