5 min readNew DelhiMar 16, 2026 05:38 AM IST
First published on: Mar 15, 2026 at 07:06 PM IST
A Liberia-flagged crude oil tanker has arrived in Indian waters after crossing the war-hit Strait of Hormuz and is expected to discharge oil at the Mumbai port within a day or two, according to ship tracking data and industry insiders. This is the third known instance of an oil tanker reaching Indian shores after crossing the fraught waters of the Strait of Hormuz since the West Asia conflict began on February 28. Amid the raging regional war, vessel movements through the critical maritime chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz—the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea—have effectively come to a halt, with only a handful of merchant ships managing to trickle out of the Persian Gulf.
The oil tanker—Smyrni—is estimated to be carrying up to 1 million barrels of Saudi Arabian crude, and arrived at Mumbai anchorage late Saturday, as per ship tracking data. An anchorage is a designated offshore area where vessels drop anchor and wait prior to entering a port. According to sources, the tanker—managed by a Greece-based shipping firm—is carrying crude oil for one of the Indian public sector refiners.
India has been in discussions with Iran to enable a safe passage of India-flagged vessels in the region. According to sources, New Delhi also wants foreign-flagged vessels carrying essential cargo for India, particularly energy supplies, to also get a safe passage out of the Persian Gulf. Between Friday night and Saturday morning, two India-flagged liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tankers crossed the Strait of Hormuz, and are expected to arrive at Indian ports on Monday and Tuesday. Earlier this week, on Wednesday, two crude oil tankers cumulatively carrying 3 million barrels of Saudi Arabian and Iraqi crude arrived in Indian waters after crossing the Strait of Hormuz. One of those tankers was sailing under the flag of Liberia, while the other was an India-flagged tanker.
Vessel transits through the Starit—which usually accounts for a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows—are currently rare given the serious risk in the region, with some merchant vessels having come under attack in the area. Iran has claimed that the Strait of Hormuz is closed only for the vessels linked to the US, Israel, and their allies while being open for others, although a few vessels of evidently neutral countries are also reported to have come under attack. This has led to most trading houses, insurers, and vessels becoming loath to get involved in the prevailing extremely high-risk environment. The disruption in global shipping has sent energy prices soaring, apart from resulting in physical supply shortages in various parts of the world.
Smyrni had departed from Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura on March 5 and prior to arrival in Indian waters, its last location signal was transmitted on Tuesday, placing it in the Persian Gulf, the data shows. The fact that the tanker’s location signal was not updated for days suggests that it had switched off its Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponder—also called “going dark” in shipping parlance—to avoid public detection before crossing the Strait, and switched it on only after clearing the waterway. This detection-avoidance behaviour is being adopted by most vessels attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
Around 2.5–2.7 million bpd of India’s crude imports—accounting for around half of the country’s total oil imports—have transited the Strait of Hormuz in recent months; the longer-term average is around 40%. This oil is mainly from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait; India doesn’t buy Iranian oil due to American sanctions on Tehran. India’s dependence on the Strait for LNG and LPG supplies is greater than for crude. Roughly 60% of India’s LNG imports come through the Strait of Hormuz; the figure is a staggering 90% in the case of LPG. With the recent crossings by these India-bound vessels, there is growing hope of more ships carrying energy supplies and other important cargo making their way to India, even as the situation in West Asia remains highly volatile and dangerous.
Majority of the Indian vessels that are waiting to cross the Strait of Hormuz to get to India are oil and gas tankers. According to data provided by the Shipping Ministry, there are six LPG tankers, four crude oil tankers, one liquefied LNG carrier, and one chemical or petroleum products tanker among the 22 Indian vessels in the Persian Gulf. The remaining Indian vessels include three container ships, two bulk carriers, one dredger, and one empty vessel; three other vessels are on dry docks for routine maintenance. In all, these 22 vessels have 611 seafarers. Additionally, there would also be a number of India-bond foreign-flagged vessels stuck in the Persian Gulf.
The oil tanker—Smyrni—is estimated to be carrying up to 1 million barrels of Saudi Arabian crude, and arrived at Mumbai anchorage late Saturday, as per ship tracking data. (AP Photo/ Representative) 
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