Indian Navy launchs Operation Sankalp | Burning Issues | PDF Download

• In a major development the Indian Navy has launched Operation Sankalp in the Persian Gulf/Gulf of Oman as a measure to re-assure Indian flagged vessels transiting through the region.
• The Navy has deployed a stealth guided missile destroyer INS Chennai & patrol vessel INS Sunayna, the area witnessed acts of sabotage on oil tankers.

NOTES

• Commissioned on 21 November 2016 by the Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
• INS Chennai is the first naval ship named after Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu.

OPERATION SANKALP

• The operation has been launched in the wake of escalating tension in the Gulf of Oman, where two oil tankers were attacked recently. The U.S. considers Iran responsible for the attacks, heightening tensions between the two countries.
• The Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region is also keeping a close watch on the movement of ships in the Gulf region.

THE RISK

• Of the roughly 2,000 companies that operate ships in the Persian Gulf, only two companies have halted bookings outright.
• Immediately after last week’s attacks, freight rates for operators in the Gulf rose 10-20%.
• With increased risks, however, come higher insurance premiums, which are expected to rise 10-15%.
• It’s typically the buyers and charterers who bear the brunt of the overall higher costs, another reason why security of the Strait of Hormuz is paramount for oil-importers around the world.
• An estimated 18-20 million barrels of oil — much of it crude — pass through the strait every d
• During the so-called Tanker War of the 1980s, when Iran and Iraq targeted vessels carrying one another’s exports, the U.S. Navy escorted oil tankers through the Persian Gulf to ensure American energy supplies. But the U.S. is no longer as reliant on Arabian producers.
•  Today, any conflict that threatens tankers would badly disrupt crude supplies for energy-hungry East Asia.

THE PERSIAN GULF

• t is bordered on the north, northeast, and east by Iran; on the southeast and south by part of Oman and the United Arab Emirates; on the southwest and west by Qatar, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia; and on the northwest by Kuwait and Iraq.

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