It was a journey that brought a ship to India via the Strait of Hormuz; it was also one that traveled via a pre-digital age while the oil-rich West Asia is engulfed by a digitally-driven war of drones and missiles.
The Liberia-flagged oil tanker Shenlong Suezmax docked at Mumbai’s Jawahar Dweep on Wednesday, March 11, having depended on manual navigation and a complete digital blackout as it braved the conflict triggered by the US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28.
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Here’s how Shenlong reached India
The vessel is the first to successfully deliver a cargo of crude oil to India via the Strait of Hormuz since the conflict began on February 28, effectively turning the vital waterway into a war zone.
The tanker, carrying 1,35,335 metric tonnes of crude oil from Saudi Arabia, arrived at the Butcher Island terminal at 6:06pm on Wednesday, reports said.
The successful transit comes at a time when energy supplies are strained as the war widens to the Arab world too, hitting supplies from the most oil-rich region of the world. India is seeing panic over supply of LPG in particular.
Navigating via a digital void
The journey began at the Ras Tanura terminal in Saudi Arabia.
The vessel departed on March 3, just as regional tensions reached a breaking point.
As the ship approached the Strait of Hormuz — a 33-km-wide chokepoint through which nearly a fifth of the world’s crude passes — the crew encountered a total stop of electronic navigational aids.
A person familiar with the matter told HT that signals from the ship’s Automatic Identification System (AIS) and transponders were not detected for a significant portion of the voyage, a tactic often used by vessels to avoid detection in hostile waters.
Maritime tracking data showed the vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on March 8 before it temporarily went off tracking systems. It reappeared on tracking systems on March 9.
The transponder is a mandatory maritime VHF radio system that automatically broadcasts a ship’s identity, position, speed, and course to nearby vessels and shore stations to prevent collisions and improve navigation.
However, the “dark” transit was not merely a choice. Sources from the Indian ministry of ports, shipping and waterways told HT that the Shenlong experienced sustained GPS spoofing and jamming, a form of electronic warfare that leaves modern satellite navigation useless; or worse, makes it misleading.
‘Seamanship and pure courage’
With GPS signals lost, the crew was forced to rely on traditional maritime skills.
The ship’s captain, Sukshant Singh Sandhu, described the journey as one filled with “many uncertainties.”
“The ship lost GPS signals many times along the way,” Captain Sandhu, a resident of Mohali, said. Second Officer Abhijit Alok told HT on Thursday that the bridge team reverted to “secondary options”. “Captain Sandhu is a seasoned officer and knows how to navigate when there are no GPS signals; we sailed on in the manner it was done in an era when there were no signals,” Alok said.
The crew of 29 consisted of nationals of India, Pakistan, and the Philippines.
Third Officer Osman Arshad, a Pakistani national from Karachi, noted that Sandhu remained steadfast. “The captain assured us that we would be alerted during a time of emergency,” he said. Arshad’s contract expires next month, and he plans to take a four-month vacation to “work off the stress”.
“We saw fighter planes flying overhead in Saudi Arabia, but no military conflict directly on us,” Arshad noted.
Return leg remains
The tanker is now scheduled to sail for Fujairah port in the UAE on Friday night after its cargo is moved to refineries in Mahul, eastern Mumbai.
Fujairah, though located outside the Strait of Hormuz, has not escaped the conflict. On March 9, debris from a drone intercepted by UAE defense forces caused a fire at the port, and an oil storage terminal was struck by falling debris last week.
Meanwhile, the arrival of another vessel, the Smyrni, is expected in Mumbai on March 14.
Status of Indian interests at sea
While the Shenlong safely docked, the conflict is still widening. During a press briefing on Thursday, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary to the ministry of shipping, confirmed that three Indian seafarers died and one remains missing following attacks on foreign-flagged vessels in the region.
One casualty occurred on the Marshall Islands-flagged Safesea Vishnu near Iraq, while another was reported on the Thai-flagged Mayuree Naree, which was struck near the port of Basra on March 11. The foreign ministry has expressed deep concern, stating that commercial shipping is being unfairly targeted.
Currently, 28 Indian-flagged vessels remain in the Persian Gulf region, and 778 Indian seafarers are on board these vessels.
The government has identified 22 priority ships, including 13 Indian-flagged vessels, for potential naval escort if the security situation deteriorates further.
The Strait of Hormuz has become a focal point of the conflict. Following the February 28 strikes, Iran has effectively seized control of the passage.
While some reports suggested that diplomatic talks between India’s foreign minister S Jaishankar and his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi had secured safe passage for Indian ships, ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal termed such reports “premature” during a weekly briefing on March 12.
An Indian-flagged carrier with Iraqi crude is also currently en route to Paradip in Odisha, as the government continues to monitor the 28 stranded vessels through a 24-hour control room.
Expected: 22 ships in 72 hours
Deendayal Port Authority, Kandla, Gujarat, is now geared up to handle 22 vessels in the next three days. Its on X post said on Friday, “Going to handle 22 vessels in the next 72 hours.”
“Systems working efficiently to accommodate reconfigured voyages and provide services to the best possible standards,” the post read.
Thailand-flagged vessel Mayuree Naree, which had come under attack in the Straits of Hormuz on March 11, is among the ships expected at the Kandla port. Some of the vessels expected are likely to be carrying crude oil to India.