By Ian Werther in News — 15 Mar 2026

Iran Allows Indian LPG Tankers Through Strait of Hormuz Amid Blockade

Iran, after being effectively blockaded at the Hormuz Strait following U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, has unusually allowed two Indian LPG carriers to pass through the waterway.

The LPG carrier Sibalik recently traversed the Strait under Iranian naval escort, according to Reuters. A second Indian LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, is expected to pass soon, sources said. Both vessels are owned by the state-owned Shipping Corporation of India, in which the Indian government holds a stake.

The passage came after New Delhi asked Tehran for relief for Indian-flagged ships moving goods and energy, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke by phone on the 12th with Iran’s president to discuss the issue.

The arrow-shaped Qeshm Island claims fame as Iran’s largest island as well as the largest island in the Persian Gulf. Roughly 84 miles (135 km) long, the island sits close to the Iranian mainland in the Strait of Hormuz—the narrow passageway where waters of the Persian Gulf (west) mingle with those of the Indian Ocean. A narrow strait filled with turquoise-green waters separates arid Qeshm Island from the equally-arid mainland. The colorful tint likely comes from sediment suspended from tidal motion and waves in the shallows off-shore.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of Qeshm Island on August 14, 2021. While most of the island is colored with a variety of tans that illustrate the dryness of the rocky terrain, some locations on the northern coast are tinted with green that marks vegetated mudflats that thrive with biodiversity.

The largest green area that stretches between Qeshm Island and the mainland is the Hara Biosphere Reserve. While the central area of the reserve is considered a marine zone, there are wetlands with a series of small islands, mangrove forests, tidal marshes, and shallow covers. The largest Avicenna mangrove ecosystem of the Persian Gulf Shoreline is found in this reserve. Rich in biodiversity, the Hara Biosphere Reserve provides a home for the critically endangered Hawksbill sea turtle. — Representative image for context; not directly related to the specific event in this article. License: Public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

India has faced a severe LPG shortage tied to the blockade. Restaurants and hotels nationwide have warned they may run out of cooking gas. India consumed about 33.15 million tonnes of cooking LPG in the last year, with imports accounting for roughly 60% of demand and about 90% of those imports coming from the Middle East.

Iranian envoy Mohammad Fatali told Russia’s RT that Tehran would ensure safe passage for Indian vessels via the Strait, saying Iran and India are friends with shared interests and destinies, and that Iran would help after the conflict ends.

STRAIT OF HORMUZ (July 21, 2016) Lt j.g. Jonathan Bermudez, assigned to the guided-missile cruiser USS San Jacinto (CG 56), communicates with an Iranian warship during a transit of the Strait of Hormuz. San Jacinto, part of the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, is deployed in support of maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet are of operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class J. Alexander Delgado/Released) 160721-N-OR652-571
Join the conversation:
www.navy.mil/viewGallery.asp
www.facebook.com/USNavy
www.twitter.com/USNavy
navylive.dodlive.mil
pinterest.com

plus.google.com — Representative image for context; not directly related to the specific event in this article. License: Public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

CNN-News18 in India reported that New Delhi is negotiating with Iranian authorities to permit a further eight oil tankers to pass through the Strait.

In a separate development, an Iranian chartered aircraft was used to transport bodies from the Iranian Navy ship Dena, which was torpedoed by a U.S. submarine near Sri Lanka on March 4. Of the 180 crew aboard, 87 were killed, 32 were rescued, and the remainder were still missing as of now. The aircraft, after departing Sri Lanka, stopped at Kochi (Cochin) in Kerala to pick up additional personnel and families before continuing to Iran. Iranian sources confirmed the flight originated in India but did not disclose its exact destination for security reasons; the 32 survivors are still in Sri Lanka.

Separately, 208 crew from the Iranian warship Bushehr, which had participated in a military exercise in India and could not return home due to engine trouble, remain in Sri Lanka.

Subscribe to Journal of Korea