India's SCI to Sail to Iran
India's biggest shipping company Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) will resume sailing to Iran this month after a hiatus of about four years, reports Reuters.
The company says it will accordingly use one of its Suezmax-sized tankers to ship an oil cargo for state-refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) from Iran.
"It is not yet decided ... which SCI-owned vessel is going to Iran," said SCI Chairman B.B. Sinha.
SCI stopped sailing to Iran in 2012 when sanctions targeting Iran's nuclear programme prevented the company obtaining insurance cover for oil and other shipments.
SCI had contracts with HPCL, Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd to ship crude from Iran, he said.
HPCL will resume Iranian oil imports from July after three years because insurance was now available for plants processing Iranian oil, its head of refineries B.K. Namdeo said.
India's Iranian oil imports are set to hit a seven-year high in the year from April 1, with refiners buying at least 400,000 barrels per day. Iran currently supplies the bulk of its oil to India using its own vessels.
