Mumbai: Two supertankers loaded with sanctioned Iranian crude have anchored off Indian ports, in what may signal the first such arrivals in nearly seven years, even as US President Donald Trump ramps up pressure with a planned blockade on Tehran’s exports.
India ceased importing Iranian oil in 2019 amid US sanctions. A waiver granted last month greenlit purchases of crude already at sea, designed to soften the blow from Middle East war disruptions on global supplies. The world’s third-biggest crude buyer, India has pledged to procure cargoes from Iran and others to tackle the energy crisis.
Questions persist on whether Trump’s Strait of Hormuz blockade — aimed at strangling Iranian shipments after the failed Islamabad peace talks — will override the waiver or disrupt these deals.
Tracking data shows the Felicity anchoring off Sikka, western India, late on Sunday. Owned by National Iranian Tanker Company, according to Equasis database, this very-large crude carrier holds 2 million barrels lifted from Kharg Island hub in mid-March.
The Jaya which started signaling on Sunday is moored near Paradip on India’s east coast. It loaded 2 million barrels from Kharg in late February, prior to US-Israel attacks on Iran. Equasis lists its owner as unknown, a hallmark of shadow tankers in Iran’s oil fleet.
In late March, the US permitted temporary sales of Iranian oil and petrochemicals already onboard to cap war-fueled price surges. Bloomberg reported last week that state refiner Indian Oil Corp. secured an Iranian cargo under the waiver, without naming the vessel.
Buyers for these two loads remain undisclosed. IOC manages Paradip crude operations; Reliance Industries Ltd. and Bharat Petroleum Corp. rely on Sikka, the latter via a single-point mooring.
State refiners provided no immediate feedback to email queries.
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