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NEW DELHI: Iran has allowed two Indian-flagged liquefied petroleum gas carriers to sail through the Strait of Hormuz, four sources with direct knowledge of the matter said, a rare exception to the Iranian blockade that has disrupted global energy supplies.

Tehran also confirmed the matter on Friday (Mar 13).

The Indian-flagged LPG tanker Shivalik crossed the Strait under escort from the Indian Navy, said two of the sources, and the second vessel, Nanda Devi, was expected to clear in the next few hours.

Since the United States and Israel launched a bombing campaign on Iran, Tehran has largely halted traffic through the strait, which runs past its coast and normally supplies around 20 per cent of global oil and seaborne liquefied natural gas.

Iran has said it will not permit any supplies for the United States or its allies to leave the strait, but India has sought exemptions. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday he had spoken to Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian and discussed the transit of goods and energy from the Gulf.

India has also given safe harbour to 183 Iranian sailors from a vessel that docked after the war broke out. The vessel was one of three that had participated in exercises in India; one of the others was sunk by a US torpedo off Sri Lanka.

India is reeling under its worst gas crisis in decades with the government cutting supplies for industries to shield households from any shortage of cooking gas.

Shivalik and Nanda Devi are owned by state-run Shipping Corp of India.

Shivalik, which had arrived in Qatari waters on Feb 25, last reported its position on Mar 12 as within the exclusive economic zone waters up to 24 miles off the United Arab Emirates, according to tracking data on MarineTraffic.

Nanda Devi was last seen on Friday in Iranian waters close to the entrance of the Strait of Hormuz, according to MarineTraffic data. It had called at Qatar’s Ras Laffan anchorage on Feb 27 before sailing to UAE waters, the data showed.

Separately, a crude tanker is expected to arrive in India on Saturday carrying Saudi Arabian oil after sailing through the Strait around Mar 1, according to two of the sources and data from Lloyd's List Intelligence.

The Liberia-flagged Smyrni crude oil suezmax tanker, which can carry a maximum capacity of 1 million barrels, is expected to arrive at an Indian port for state refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp.

India's foreign ministry, navy, Shipping Corp and HPCL did not respond to Reuters emails sent out after business hours.

India consumed 33.15 million metric tons of cooking gas last year, with imports accounting for about 60 per cent of demand. About 90 per cent of those imports came from the Middle East.

On Thursday, India said 24 Indian-flagged vessels were stuck in the Gulf area past the narrow strait.

IRAN PLANE LEAVES INDIA WITH SAILORS 

Meanwhile, a chartered plane arranged by Iran departed southern India late on Friday carrying some sailors from a naval vessel that had docked in the country, as well as the bodies of crew members killed in a US attack off Sri Lanka, two sources told Reuters.

The aircraft had earlier taken off from Sri Lanka carrying the bodies of 84 Iranian sailors killed in a US submarine attack on a warship off the island’s coast last week, an Indian official with direct knowledge of the matter said. 

It then landed in the neighbouring southern Indian city of Kochi before departing with sailors from another Iranian vessel and some Iranian tourists stranded in India, the official added.

An Iranian source confirmed the plane had taken off from Kochi but declined to confirm its destination or other details for security reasons.

India's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Iranian warship IRIS Dena was sunk by a torpedo from a US submarine on March 4 while it was returning from a naval exercise in India amid the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Two other ships that also participated in the exercises sought shelter: the IRIS Lavan, which docked in India, and the IRIS Booshehr, which docked in Sri Lanka.

A Sri Lankan court ordered this week that the bodies of the sailors killed in the attack, stored in a morgue in the southern port city of Galle's National Hospital, be handed over to the embassy of Iran.

Sri Lanka's health, foreign and defence ministries did not respond to calls from Reuters seeking comment. The Sri Lankan navy said it was not involved in the transport and repatriation efforts.

Thirty-two survivors of the sunken ship are in Sri Lanka, as well as 208 crew members from the IRIS Booshehr.

The Sri Lankan foreign ministry is in touch with the Iranian embassy in Colombo about the crew, which in turn is consulting Tehran, the defence ministry had said.

REGIONAL FALLOUT FROM WAR

Reuters reported last week that Washington was pressing Colombo to not repatriate the survivors from the two vessels.

The repatriations underscore the growing regional fallout from the Iran war, which has badly disrupted maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz following multiple attacks on ships by Iran. 

India, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, has been in regular touch with Iranian officials about safe transit for Indian-flagged or destined vessels.

A handful of ships have already passed through the Strait in recent days, a reprieve that Modi's party has played up as a diplomatic success ahead of key state elections through social media videos and other posts.

Iran's ambassador to India, Mohammad Fathali, confirmed safe passage for Indian vessels.

"Because we believe that Iran and India are friends," he told reporters late on Friday.

"We have common interests and a common fate. I, as the ambassador for Iran in India, I say to you that the government of India ... after the war, will help us in different fields."