Indian vessel sails from UAE’s Fujairah after terminal attack

MUMBAI: An Indian-flagged vessel loaded with 80,800 metric tons of United Arab Emirates’ Murban oil, sailed for India on Sunday from Fujairah, India’s government said, a day after sources said some loading operations had been suspended at the UAE port.

Oil loading operations at the UAE’s Fujairah emirate, a major bunkering hub and crude export terminal, had resumed after a drone attack and fire on Saturday, sources said, though it was unclear if the operations were back to normal.

The vessel, Jag Laadki, was loading oil at the Single Point Mooring, when Fujairah terminal was attacked, India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said on Sunday.

The vessel and all Indian seafarers on board are safe, the statement said.

READ MORE: India seeks passage for more vessels stranded around Strait of Hormuz after a few sail through

Fujairah, outside the Strait of Hormuz, is the outlet for about 1 million barrels per day of the UAE’s Murban crude oil - a volume equal to about 1% of world demand.

Since the United States and Israel launched a bombing campaign on Iran on February 28, Tehran has largely halted traffic through the strait, which runs past its coast and through which around 20% of global oil ?and seaborne liquefied natural gas is supplied.

India has sought safe passage for 22 of its vessels stranded west of the Strait of Hormuz, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Saturday, after Iran allowed a few Indian ships to sail through in a rare exception to the blockade.

Separately, two Indian-flagged LPG carriers, Shivalik and Nanda Devi, carrying about 92,712 metric tons of LPG, crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday headed to India. They are scheduled to arrive at Mundra on March 16 and Kandla on March 17, respectively.