Amid Gulf Tensions, Navy to Send Officers Onboard Indian Oil Tankers

NEW DELHI: After deploying two warships in the Gulf of Oman region amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran, the Indian Navy is now also planning to embark some officers and sailors onboard Indian oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz to advise them on self-protection measures.
“An officer and two sailors will be positioned on each Indian-flag tanker, which enters and exits the Strait of Hormuz, in an advisory role for detection of floating mines and other explosives. The naval personnel can board the commercial vessels through helicopters or boats,” said an officer on Friday.

This came even as the Directorate General of Shipping, the Indian Ship Owners Association and the Navy held a meeting on Friday afternoon to review the situation in the Persian Gulf, where two foreign oil tankers have been attacked with suspected mines in recent days, with Iranian forces even shooting down a sophisticated drone belonging to the US on Thursday.

Around half a dozen Indian crude oil carriers, including ULCCs (ultra large crude carriers), transit through the Persian Gulf on a daily basis to meet the country’s energy security requirements. Under “Operation Sankalp”, the Navy has already deployed destroyer INS Chennai and patrol vessel INS Sunayna to “re-assure” Indian flagged vessels in the region.

Apart from also using its P-8I long-range patrol aircraft for aerial surveillance of the region, the Navy is keeping tabs through its Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region center, which takes feeds and inputs from multiple sources ranging from coastal radars to satellites and then fuses, correlates and analyses them to assess maritime threats.
Earlier, after a holistic review of the situation, the DG Shipping had issued two advisories on June 13 and 16 to all Indian-flag vessels to undertake all appropriate self-protection measures. The Navy says it remains committed “to ensuring safety of Indian maritime trade and merchant vessels operating in the region”.

Source:ToI

Image Courtesy: TH