The Strait of Hormuz remains under tight security as Iran’s IRGC demands authorization for shipping movements. (AP file photo)A day after Iran announced that the Strait of Hormuz was “completely open” for all commercial vessels, it reversed course as its navy announced that the maritime chokepoint was closed again. Amid this confusion, a number of merchant vessels, including a few India-flagged ships, turned back into the Persian Gulf after seemingly trying to cross the Strait, as per ship tracking data. Moreover, at least one tanker came under fire from Iranian gunboats, forcing it to make a U-turn and abort its attempt to transit the narrow waterway that links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman.But a few vessels, including an Indian oil tanker Desh Garima, appeared to have successfully crossed the Strait on Saturday, the data shows. Shipping Corporation of India (SCI)-owned Desh Garima is the tenth India-flagged vessel to have crossed the fraught waters of the Strait of Hormuz since early March. As of Saturday evening, it was sailing in the Gulf of Oman, according to ship tracking data from maritime data and intelligence platform MarineTraffic. With its transit through the Strait, there are now 14 India-flagged vessels in the Persian Gulf.At least four India-flagged vessels—oil tankers Sanmar Herald, Desh Vaibhav, and Desh Vibhor, and bulk carrier Jag Arnav—were among the ships attempting to cross the Strait to exit the Persian Gulf where they had been stranded for weeks, but evidently turned back on Saturday after Iran said the chokepoint was closed again, MarineTraffic data shows. Desh Vaibhav and Desh Vibhor are owned by the state-owned SCI, and Sanmar Herald belongs to Chennai-based Sanmar Shipping. Jag Arnav is owned by Mumbai-based Great Eastern Shipping Company.According to reports, the Iranian navy warned ships stranded in the region that it will block transits through the Strait till the US doesn’t end its blockade of Iranian ports. It followed US President Donald Trump’s comments that the American blockade of Iranian ports will remain in “full force” until Iran agrees to a deal with the US, including on its nuclear programme.Meanwhile, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Operations Centre issued a warning for ships in the area, saying that a tanker reported being approached by two Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) gunboats and then being fired upon in the Strait’s waters 20 nautical miles northeast of Oman. “Tanker and crew are reported safe. Authorities are investigating,” it said, without identifying the tanker that reported to have come under IRGC fire.Scores of commercial vessels with thousands of seafarers have been stuck in the Persian Gulf since the West Asia war began on February 28 as vessel movements through the Strait of Hormuz ground to a halt after warnings from Iran; a few ships had also come under attack. The Strait of Hormuz is among the world’s most critical chokepoints for energy supplies, and accounts for a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows.For Iran, its ability to disrupt global trade and energy flows by effectively closing the Strait has proven to be its most potent weapon and bargaining chip in the West Asia war. The halt in traffic through the Strait have sent energy prices soaring, caused shortages in various parts of the world, and forced some countries to ration fuel supplies amid the global supply crunch and price shock.Story continues below this adOver the past few weeks, only a few ships a day have been able to cross the waterway, that too in coordination with the Iranian forces. Even with the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran in place, vessel movements through the Strait hardly picked up as confusion over the status of navigation through the critical waterway persisted.Then on Friday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi announced that with the temporary truce in Israel and Tehran-backed Hezbollah, the “passage of all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire”. He added that the vessel movements through the Strait should be on the coordinated routes announced by Iran.Following the announcement, which was welcomed all over the world and brought some hope of movement towards normalisation of trade flows, a number of vessels that were stuck in the Persian Gulf started to line up to cross the Strait, but the “completely open” status of the waterway failed to last even a day.“Attention all ships, regarding the failure of the US government to fulfil its commitment in the negotiation, Iran declares the Strait of Hormuz completely closed again. No vessel of any type or nationality is allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz,” the radio message broadcast by Iran’s navy said, according to a Reuters report.Sukalp Sharma is a Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express and writes on a host of subjects and sectors, notably energy and aviation. He has over 16 years of experience in journalism with a body of work spanning areas like politics, development, equity markets, corporates, trade, and economic policy. He considers himself an above-average photographer, which goes well with his love for travel. ... Read More © The Indian Express Pvt Ltd