NEW DELHI: India-bound cargo could face an additional 30-35-day voyage and double freight costs with twin disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz and the mounting concerns at southern Red Sea-Bab el-Mandeb, the Indian National Shipowners’ Association (INSA) warned on Wednesday.The sinking of Indian cargo vessel MSV Faize Noore Oliya—that capsized in the Red Sea after being struck by a projectile off Yemen on Tuesday — has also heightened concerns. All 14 crew members, including 13 Indians, were rescued, according to the Union shipping ministry.On July 23, the Directorate General of Shipping advised Indian-flagged vessels and foreign ships carrying Indian seafarers to exercise extreme caution around Yemen, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the southern Red Sea because of missile, drone and unmanned surface vessel threats, following a July 15 advisory suspending fresh deployment of Indian seafarers on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz until further orders.“With shipowners no longer certain whether passage through the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb is permitted, consignments from Yanbu (western Saudi Arabia) have effectively frozen,” said Anil Devli, chief executive of the century-old INSA and a member of India’s National Shipping Board.“Cargo that typically reaches India within days via Hormuz, or in 20-25 days round trip via Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea ports, could now take an additional 30-35 days around Africa.”With commercial traffic through Hormuz at a standstill and Bab el-Mandeb increasingly risky, vessels loading cargo at Yanbu may have to sail around Africa, passing through the Suez Canal, across the Mediterranean, around the Cape of Good Hope and then east towards India.“It will almost double the freight,” Devli said. “Flows into India from Saudi Arabia would get affected very badly if Indian-flagged vessels or Indian cargo face disruptions.”The disruption has also forced Indian refiners to redraw Gulf supply chains. Companies have widened purchases across Russia, West Africa, the Americas and other non-Gulf suppliers, with India now sourcing crude from more than 40 countries.For crews, the result is a voyage shaped by shifting permissions and rapidly changing security conditions.Devli added, “Currently, ships and seafarers are becoming casualties in a conflict between much larger powers.”Shipping executives said Iranian authorities had generally facilitated merchant vessels following prescribed routes until the security situation deteriorated.Confidence was rattled after videos of a radio exchange between the captain of the Indian-flagged VLCC Sanmar Herald and Iranian authorities went viral.“You gave me clearance to go… You are firing now…” the captain is heard saying, prompting India to raise the safety of Indian mariners with Iran.The crisis has already taken a human toll. On July 30, the govt informed Parliament that since the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, 16 Indian nationals, including 10 seafarers, have died in the region, while 75 others have been injured.
