Indian Tanker Desh Garima Safely Transits Hormuz as Two Vessels Turn Back After IRGC Firing
The Indian-flagged crude oil tanker Desh Garima, carrying 31 Indian seafarers, successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz on April 18, 2026, making it the 10th Indian-flagged vessel to navigate the strait since early March 2026.
Two other Indian-flagged vessels — Sanmar Herald (a VLCC carrying approximately 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude) and Jag Arnav (a bulk carrier) — were fired upon by boats belonging to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and were forced to turn back westward.
Indian authorities raised formal concerns with Iran through diplomatic channels over the safety of merchant shipping and seafarers operating in the region.
Iran's Supreme National Security Council stated that the Islamic Republic is exercising "intense management and control" over the strait, issuing transit permits and enforcing wartime regulations in response to what Tehran described as a US-led blockade.
The Desh Garima is expected to arrive in Mumbai on April 22, 2026.
The incidents come against the backdrop of the 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis, which began on February 28, 2026, when the United States and Israel launched air operations against Iran, after which Iran moved to restrict maritime traffic through the strait.
The Strait of Hormuz: The World's Most Critical Oil Chokepoint
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway separating Iran to the north from Oman and the United Arab Emirates to the south, connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and, ultimately, the Arabian Sea. At its narrowest point, it is approximately 21 nautical miles (34 km) wide, with shipping traffic using two designated lanes — one for inbound and one for outbound vessels — each only 2 nautical miles wide with a 2-nautical-mile separation zone. The strait is flanked by the territorial waters of Iran and Oman, meaning all vessel traffic passes through one or both states' 12-nautical-mile territorial sea zones.
Two Indian-flagged vessels were prevented from exercising their legal right of transit passage through the strait, directly threatening India's crude oil supply chain which depends heavily on Gulf sources.
UNCLOS and the Right of Transit Passage
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), adopted in 1982 and in force since 1994, is the principal international legal framework governing ocean navigation. India ratified UNCLOS in 1995. Under UNCLOS, a coastal state's territorial sea extends up to 12 nautical miles from its baselines. In straits used for international navigation that fall within territorial seas — such as the Strait of Hormuz — the convention establishes a special regime called Transit Passage (Article 38).
Iran's IRGC firing on vessels and forcing them to turn back represents a direct challenge to the freedom of transit passage guaranteed under UNCLOS, placing India in a position where it must assert its rights as a major seafaring and energy-importing nation.
India's Energy Security and Gulf Dependence
India is the world's third-largest crude oil importer and consumer, importing approximately 88–89% of its crude oil requirements. This high import dependence makes international oil supply disruptions a matter of direct national economic concern. India's oil import basket is geographically concentrated in West Asia (the Middle East), with the Strait of Hormuz forming the only transit corridor for most of these supplies.
With Hormuz under partial Iranian control and two Indian vessels already forced to retreat, the events directly threaten the supply and cost of crude oil for India's refineries, underlining why the government responded with a formal diplomatic protest.
IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps): A Primer
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is a branch of Iran's armed forces established after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Unlike Iran's conventional military (Artesh), the IRGC reports directly to the Supreme Leader and has a broader political, economic, and paramilitary mandate. Its naval wing, the IRGC Navy, specifically patrols the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
Understanding the IRGC's institutional identity is essential for contextualising why Iran's central government and the IRGC Navy may act with a degree of operational independence, and why India's diplomatic protest was directed at Iran's government as the responsible sovereign state.
- Desh Garima: Indian-flagged crude oil tanker; 31 Indian seafarers aboard; safely transited Hormuz on April 18, 2026; expected at Mumbai April 22.
- Sanmar Herald: Indian-flagged VLCC; carrying ~2 million barrels of Iraqi crude; fired upon by IRGC gunboats; forced to turn back.
- Jag Arnav: Indian-flagged bulk carrier; also fired upon; forced to retreat westward.
- Strait of Hormuz: 21 nautical miles (34 km) at narrowest point; ~20% of global oil and LNG trade.
- India's crude import dependence: ~88–89% of requirements imported.
- Top suppliers: Russia (~31.5%), Iraq, Saudi Arabia, UAE — most routed through Hormuz.
- UNCLOS Article 38: Guarantees uninterruptible right of transit passage through international straits; Iran's actions are in direct legal tension with this provision.
- 2026 Hormuz crisis onset: February 28, 2026 — Iran began restricting traffic following US-Israel air operations against Iran.
- India's SPR capacity: ~5.33 million metric tonnes at three locations (Visakhapatnam, Mangaluru, Padur).