NEW DELHI: Sukhmeet Singh and Dhiraj Kumar Agrawal have travelled the oceans, but their real test as merchant navy commanders came in the volatile Strait of Hormuz, an otherwise calmer oil and gas trade route now under the shadow of drones, missiles and rigged with anti-ship mines. Their objective — safely navigate two massive Indian LPG gas tankers through a war-hit path to ensure people back home keep getting cooking gas.Patience and experience was on their side — while the Sukhmeet-captained ‘Shivalik’ reached the Mundra port on Monday, the Dhiraj-steered ‘Nanda Devi’ docked in Kandla port’s Vandinar facility on early Tuesday, completing a difficult trip after being stranded for over a week on the West of Hormuz due to massive military strikes.
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After the ships — Shivalik with 27 sailors and Nanda Devi with 30 — reached the Indian ports with over 92,000 tonnes of LPG, shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday morning held a virtual interaction with “the brave crews”, saying, “seafarers are the unsung heroes of global trade.” “Far away from your homes and families, you ensured that essential cargo reaches its destination safely…crew demonstrated exceptional calmness, vigilance and professionalism under challenging conditions,” he said. Officials, who met the sailors onboard the vessels, said the only problem crews faced was the “long wait”. They will be ready to sail again as most have travelled through the strait earlier, the officials said.Shipping secretary Vijay Kumar said the sailors “continued duty amid uncertainty” in one of the “world’s most critical choke point” at a time when the attacks on vessels had reduced traffic.TOI has learnt that Sukhmeet hails from Punjab’s Adampur. His family members said they had advised him to leave duty but Sukhmeet had said he would “return home only after completing the task” as it was his responsibility to bring back the critical cargo to India.Officials said Dhiraj is from Kantabanji in Odisha’s Balangir. His family members said they heaved a sigh of relief after ‘Nanda Devi’ crossed the strait.In response to a question on the shipping ministry’s interaction with the sailors, special secretary Rajesh Kumar Sinha said that the intent was to thank them and praise their yeoman service. “They were all in their uniforms and looked healthy and cheerful,” he said.Sinha said there are about 3.2 lakh Indian seafarers and 90% of them employed on foreign-flagged vessels, signifying their calibre.
