ANKARA, Turkey – A second Turkish-flagged ship has crossed the war-torn Strait of Hormuz, Turkey’s Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said on Saturday.

Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz, a key global waterway, since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran started on 28 February set off the Middle East conflict and sent global oil and gas prices soaring.

Uraloglu said that on that first day there were 15 ships belonging to Turkish shipowners waiting to go through the strategic strait.

“Two of these 15 made the crossing,” he told the private CNN Turk channel.

“This is explained by our initiatives and also by the fact that they were using Iranian ports or carrying goods coming from or bound for Iran”.

Uraloglu did not say when the second ship crossed the strait. The first vessel had passed through, with Iranian permission, on 13 March.

The two ships are the Rozana and Neraki, according to CNN Turk.

The minister said only nine of the blocked ships had sought permission to pass through the strait and that the transport and foreign ministries was trying to help them.

“Four of them have not requested to leave. Two of them are power-generation vessels and are stationed on site. The other two are waiting for the situation to calm down,” he added.

India-flagged LPG tanker crosses strait

An Indian-flagged tanker carrying LPG has safely passed through the Strait of Hormuz, India’s government said on Saturday.

Iran has effectively halted maritime traffic in the waterway, a critical route for global crude oil and gas, since US and Israeli strikes began.

However, New Delhi, the world’s second-largest buyer of liquefied petroleum gas, has managed to secure passage for several Indian-flagged vessels over the past three weeks.

The shipping ministry confirmed on Saturday that LPG carrier Green Sanvi had passed through the chokepoint.

“Green Sanvi has safely transited the Strait of Hormuz, carrying 46 650 MT of LPG cargo with 25 seafarers on board,” a statement said, without giving further details of its final destination.

It said 17 Indian-flagged vessels, carrying 460 Indian crew, “remain in the western Persian Gulf region”.

Data from ship tracking company Marine Traffic’s website confirmed that the Green Sanvi was an Indian-flagged tanker.

Public broadcaster All India Radio said it was the “seventh India-bound LPG tanker” to cross the Strait of Hormuz since the Middle East war began.

India’s petroleum and natural gas ministry also said on Saturday that Indian refiners were buying crude oil from Iran and other nations to help deal with the global energy crisis.

“Amid Middle East supply disruptions, Indian refiners have secured their crude oil requirements, including from Iran,” it said in a post on X, adding that there was “no payment hurdle for Iranian crude imports”.

That comes about two weeks after the US Treasury said it was temporarily lifting sanctions on Iranian oil already loaded onto vessels.

The ministry also confirmed that an LPG vessel carrying around “44 TMT Iranian LPG” was berthed and “currently discharging” at the southwestern Indian port of Mangalore.

India imports about 60 percent of its LPG needs and has been grappling with a gas crunch over the past month.

The Indian government has imposed tighter controls over natural and cooking gas following import disruptions, prioritising supply towards households and limiting the amount available for industrial use.

New Delhi maintains strong relations with Tehran but has steadily expanded cooperation with Israel in defence, agriculture, technology and cybersecurity.