Second Indian tanker Nanda Devi carrying 46,500 MT LPG reaches Kandla Port amidst West Asia crisis

New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday said that the second Indian-flagged LPG tanker Nanda Devi reached Kandla Port in Gujarat on early Tuesday after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz, and efforts are on to ensure the safe passage of the remaining 22 Indian vessels still stranded in the conflict zone.

On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.

The two ships are carrying about 92,712 tonnes of LPG - equivalent to a day's requirement of cooking gas in the country. Rajesh Kumar Sinha, Special Secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways told media people.

"The two have started discharge (of LPG). Right now, Nanda Devi is doing a ship-to-ship transfer - from mother ship to daughter ship," he said.

A consignment of 46,500 metric tonnes of LPG has been brought by Nanda Devi and this cargo will be transferred to a vessel named BW Birch, which will subsequently proceed to discharge portions of the consignment at the ports of Ennore (Tamil Nadu) and Haldia (West Bengal) along the eastern coast.

The transfer process takes place at a rate of 1,000 tonnes per hour; consequently, the entire operation is expected to take two days to complete, the official added.

Two LPG carriers started their journey on March 13 and crossed the Strait of Hormuz early on March 14.

Currently, 22 Indian-flagged vessels carrying 611 seafarers remain in the western Gulf, with the Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping) monitoring operations closely in coordination with ship owners, agencies and Indian missions, he said.

Separately, the Centre has asked states to expedite approvals for piped gas projects to enable faster rollout and ease pressure on cooking gas availability.

"Situation remains a matter of concern, but we are providing supplies as before to the domestic consumers," Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas told reporters here.

Giving statistics, she said panic bookings for a refill LPG cylinder peaked to 87.7 lakh on March 13, but have since eased, with about 70 lakh bookings being done on Monday. This compares to about 55 lakh bookings in pre-war days.

LPG deliveries have kept pace. "We delivered 62.5 lakh cylinders on March 13, 60 lakh on March 14... this compares to 50 lakh deliveries in pre-conflict times", she said.

The central government has, on March 16, written to all state governments to expedite approvals for city gas projects. It asked them to issue deemed permission for pending applications for large city gas pipelines, approvals for new city gas projects within 24 hours, waive road restoration charges, and relax working schedules.

Sharma said fuel supplies remain stable with all refineries operating at high capacity and maintaining adequate crude inventories.