West Asia Crisis: Seventh LPG Tanker Reaches India, But 17 Ships Remain Stranded

As tensions continue to intensify in West Asia, a seventh India-flagged LPG tanker, Green Sanvi, successfully navigated the Strait of Hormuz on Friday. It joins six other tankers that have already arrived in India. 

However, challenges persist, with 17 India vessels still stranded west of the Strait, including LPG carriers Green Asha and Jag Vikram, which are expected to sail to India soon, The Times of India reported. The latest tanker is estimated to be carrying around 44,000 tonnes of LPG. 

In a separate development, a US-sanctioned tanker carrying Iranian crude has altered its route mid-journey, steering away from India, where it would have marked the first such delivery in nearly seven years, and heading instead toward China.  

The Aframax vessel Ping Shun, built in 2002 and sanctioned by the US in 2025, is now indicating Dongying in China as its destination rather than Vadinar in Gujarat, according to ship-tracking firm Kpler.

"An Iranian crude vessel 'Ping Shun' that had been en route to Vadinar, India over the past three days has dropped India as its declared destination near arrival and is now signalling China," Sumit Ritolia, lead research analyst, refining and modelling at commodity market analytic firm Kpler, told PTI.

Oil on Ping Shun would have been the first Iranian crude that India would have purchased since 2019. After Washington eased sanctions, Indian refiners had begun scouting a few Iranian oil cargoes already on the water.

India's LPG Crisis

India has been facing one of the largest LPG crises in recent years, owing to shipments being stuck in the Strait and a reduction in output from major fuel-exporting countries, including Qatar and the UAE.

Crude prices spiked to multi-year highs, while the US waived sanctions on Russian oil to prevent prices from breaching the psychologically crucial $150 per barrel mark, which could trigger a global economic slowdown and potential recession.

Amid rising concerns over LPG supplies, Argentina has stepped up shipments to India to ease shortages. Unlike crude stockpiles, India does not have sufficient strategic reserves for LPG and LNG. The escalation of tensions in West Asia has exposed the vulnerabilities of relying on ‘just-in-time’ fuel supplies.

Argentina shipped 50,000 tonnes of LPG to India between January and March 2026 — more than double the volumes recorded a year earlier. There were no LPG shipments from Argentina before 2024. Argentina plans to commission a new natural gas liquids fractionation unit at its Bahia Blanca processing plant in 2026, which is expected to boost processed output, with additional volumes earmarked for export.

Argentina’s natural gas-driven LPG production stood at 259,000 tonnes in January, while annual output rose to 2.63 million tonnes in 2025, compared with 2.3 million tonnes the previous year.

Amid New Delhi’s push to diversify fuel supplies, South America is emerging as a reliable partner. Bilateral trade between India and Argentina rose 36.77% to $6.34 billion between January and November 2025. India is Argentina’s fifth-largest trading partner and export market.