By Nidhi Verma
NEW DELHI, March 13 (Reuters) – The Indian-flagged oil tanker, Jag Prakash, which is carrying gasoline from Oman to Africa, has set sail from east of the Strait of Hormuz, an Indian government official said on Friday.
Gulf shipping has been disrupted over the past two weeks as Iran targets the region in retaliation for the U.S.-Israeli attacks on it.
Rajesh Kumar Sinha, India’s special secretary at the ministry of shipping, told reporters that there were four Indian-flagged vessels stuck east of the Strait of Hormuz, in the Gulf of Oman, on Thursday, of which one, the Jag Prakash, had now set sail.
“Three vessels remain stuck at the east side, they have 76 Indian sailors onboard,” he said.
Sinha added that 24 Indian-flagged vessels were stuck west of the Strait, in the Persian Gulf, on Friday, the same number as on Thursday, with a total of 677 Indian sailors onboard.
Iran’s new supreme leader said on Thursday that the country will fight on and keep Hormuz shut as leverage against the United States and Israel, in defiant first comments attributed to him since he succeeded his slain father.
Ship-tracking data from Kpler showed the Jag Prakash will discharge fuel loaded at Oman’s Sohar Port at Tanzania’s Tanga Port on March 21.
(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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