According to the Indian Media, Green Sanvi is the seventh India-flagged merchant ship to have transited the fraught waters of the Strait since the West Asia war began; all seven have been LPG tankers. With Green Sanvi’s transit, there are now 17 India-flagged vessels in the Persian Gulf, which is to the east of the Strait of Hormuz. These include three more LPG tankers, four crude oil tankers, one liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker, one chemical products tanker, three container ships, two bulk carriers, and two vessels undergoing routine maintenance.

India has been engaged with Iran at the diplomatic level for safe passage of Indian ships through the Strait of Hormuz, where Tehran has brought vessel movements to an effective halt amid the ongoing West Asia war. Last week, Iran said that non-hostile vessels linked to countries other than the US, Israel, and their allies can cross the strait in coordination with Iranian authorities. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said the strait remains operational for nations that have engaged with Tehran and are considered friendly, adding that vessels from China, Russia, India, Iraq, and Pakistan had been allowed to move their vessels from through the maritime chokepoint, according to Iranian State TV.

While transiting, Green Sanvi was signalling that it was an Indian ship with Indian seafarers on board. Such identity broadcasts have become a standard of sorts among vessels crossing the Strait in coordination with Iranian authorities, which are regulating vessel movements through the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that connects the Persian Gulf with the Arabian Sea and is a critical maritime chokepoint for global energy flows.

Scores of vessels have been stranded in the Persian Gulf since the war began, with only a few being able to safely transit the Strait, and that, too, with Iran’s nod. Like most other vessels that have been able to cross the Strait, Green Sanvi also through Iranian waters between Iran’s Larak and Qeshm islands, instead of taking the shorter and straighter conventional path through the middle of the strait, ship tracking data shows.

Green Sanvi, a very large gas carrier (VLGC) , is owned by MOL India, according to shipping databases. MOL India is the Indian arm of Japan-based global shipping giant Mitsui OSK Lines. The tanker has a deadweight capacity of nearly 50,000 tonnes. Deadweight tonnage is the total weight a vessel can carry, including cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, provisions, and crew. Prior to Green Sanvi, six other India-flagged LPG tankers—Shivalik, Nanda Devi, Jag Vasant, Pine Gas, BW Elm, and BW Tyr—safely crossed the Strait of Hormuz over the past few weeks.

The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has created a major headache for India, which depends on imports to meet a bulk of its energy needs. Around 40% of India’s crude oil imports, over 50% of its LNG imports, and a whopping 90% of its LPG imports transited the Strait, making the chokepoint particularly critical for India’s LPG supplies. India’s annual LPG consumption stands at a little over 33 million tonnes, with an import dependency level of 60%. With 90% of India’s LPG imports coming from West Asia, the Strait of Hormuz effectively sees the movement of around 54% of India’s LPG consumption.

Last week, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the country has adopted a “responsible approach” by implementing “a series of precautionary measures” to prevent the “additional risks on ships and seafarers in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Sea of Oman”. “Accordingly, and as repeatedly emphasized, the Strait of Hormuz is not closed, and maritime traffic through it has not been suspended. Navigation in the Strait continues, subject to compliance with the aforementioned necessary measures and considerations arising from the wartime situation,” it said in a statement.

“Non-hostile vessels, or those belonging to or affiliated with other countries, provided that they do not participate in or cooperate with acts of aggression against Iran and comply with the declared safety and security regulations and measures, may, in coordination with the competent Iranian authorities, benefit from safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz,” it added, while maintaining that vessels linked to the US, Israel, and their allies “do not qualify as engaging in normal and non-hostile passage”.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran once again emphasizes that any arrangements, initiatives, or mechanisms related to the safety and security of navigation in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Sea of Oman must be undertaken with full respect for the rights and interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in coordination with its competent authorities, and with due regard to the realities arising from the aggression and the situation of conflict,” the statement read.