Swapna Kumbar , Bengaluru - The Marshall Islands flagged LPG tanker Sarv Shakti, carrying ~45,000 tonnes of vital cooking fuel, successfully transited the volatile Strait of Hormuz on May 2, marking the first such India-linked passage since the US naval blockade amid Iran tensions. Heading to Indian ports like Visakhapatnam (ETA May 13), the 47,000 gross tonne vessel with mostly Indian crew passed Iran's Larak and Qeshm islands into the Gulf of Oman after briefly going dark for security.

Loaded with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) 90% of India's imports via Hormuz the transit eases New Delhi's historic energy crunch, where commercial supplies were slashed and domestic output ramped up. Amid US-Israel strikes on Iran since late February, Hormuz traffic plummeted to near zero due to sanctions on Iran linked ships, missile risks, and detours, spiking global oil/gas prices. India prioritized LPG berthing at ports while IOC (unconfirmed buyer) secured this rare breakthrough via diplomatic channels or Iranian coordination. The high risk voyage, broadcast as India bound, underscores West Asia crisis fallout: depleted missile stocks, fragile ceasefires, and Hormuz chokepoint threats inflating ATF/LPG costs for airlines like Air India.

Sarv Shakti's safe Hormuz exit offers India fleeting relief from LPG shortages fueling cooking fuel inflation, but repeated blockades risk deeper energy woes. As Tehran-US standoffs persist, such transits highlight New Delhi's precarious balancing act securing supplies without entanglement in the Iran war's shipping stranglehold.