Fertilizer cargoes in focus as Iran tightens Strait transit rules

For India, which has focused its attention on the evacuation of fertilizer-carrying bulk carriers from the Persian Gulf, the peace deal and the subsequent announcement by Iran that it was closing the Strait as a result of developments in Lebanon have come as a mixed bag.

Working with Iran, India had established a process for evacuating ships serving its needs and successfully brought back more than a dozen vessels, largely carrying energy supplies. The government has now earmarked 34 ships for repatriation, including 15 fertilizer-carrying bulk carriers and one ammonia carrier serving domestic fertilizer production, with possible naval escorts as before. Barring Jag Arnav, the remaining 15 bulk carriers are foreign-flagged.

Josco Shunzhou, a Hong Kong-registered vessel carrying 50,000 tonnes of urea, crossed the Strait of Hormuz two days ago and is scheduled to reach Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh on June 27, according to marinetraffic.com. While some ships identified by the government are untraceable on vessel-tracking websites, many are anchored west of the Strait of Hormuz. Eight of them are urea carriers transporting a combined 3.3 lakh tonnes, four are carrying 2.57 lakh tonnes of DAP, three are carrying 1.1 lakh tonnes of sulphur, and one is carrying slightly over 25,000 tonnes of ammonia.

The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has assessed the fertilizer requirement for the kharif season at about 384 lakh tonnes. Current stocks stand at around 196 lakh tonnes, while India began the season with an opening stock of more than 200 lakh tonnes. The government says the standard buffer requirement is 33%, but this year advance availability exceeds half of the total requirement. This has been aided by domestic production of more than 118 lakh tonnes since the current crisis began.

Nearly 40 lakh tonnes of imports have reached India during the crisis period, mostly not from Strait of Hormuz, the government has said. Urea imports have come from Oman, Malaysia, Vietnam, Georgia and Russia, among others, while DAP and NPK imports have arrived from Russia, Morocco, Egypt, the United States and Jordan, among others. According to the government, a total of 25 lakh tonnes of imports are scheduled to arrive in June.

Iran strengthens grip

On Friday, Iran announced that the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), which it had set up during the war to manage the transit of ships along its coast, would be the sole official channel for processing transit requests. Applications can be submitted through its website.

Even as some ships transited during the first two days after the signing of the peace deal, the Joint Maritime Information Center said a number of vessels “attempting to transit have been challenged by Sepah Navy and have turned around midway”. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been informing ships that the PGSA is the only authority authorised to process and permit transit requests.

According to the PGSA, it will not levy any fee for “security, safety and environmental services as well as related Iranian insurances” for 60 days .However, a Lloyd’s List report noted that “The PGSA reserves the right to introduce insurance fees in the future… Owners will then be required to purchase and renew coverage accordingly.” The terms have been circulated across the industry and submitted to the International Maritime Organization.

Iran has insisted that, for now, only the passage close to its coast is permitted, although ships following U.S. Navy guidance had also been transiting near the Oman coast. Indian ships have been using the Iranian route.

Meanwhile, Disha, Petronet LNG’s LNG carrier, has reached Dahej. It was among the first vessels to exit the Strait after the peace deal was announced.

(With inputs from Saptaparno Ghosh)