ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s navy is escorting merchant vessels along its own maritime routes and not on the Strait of Hormuz, a security official with direct knowledge of the operation confirmed on Wednesday, amid a global energy crisis triggered by the key passageway’s closure.
Pakistani military’s media wing announced on Monday it had launched ‘Operation Muhafiz-ul-Bahr’ in which the country’s navy ships were escorting merchant vessels “to ensure the uninterrupted flow of national energy supplies and the security of sea lines of communication.”
The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes. The US-Israeli war against Iran has halted tanker traffic on the key route. Iran has attacked several ships in the Strait of Hormuz and threatened any ships that try to pass through it.
A Pakistani security official stressed that the navy’s Operation Muhafiz-ul-Bahr is focused only on Pakistan’s own sea lines of communication, particularly the routes linking Karachi with the Gulf region and the Red Sea.
“Pakistan Navy is conducting escort operations for Pakistani vessels operating along the Karachi–Gulf and Karachi–Red Sea Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs),” the official told Arab News on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
“These operations should not be misconstrued as escorting ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.”
The official said that the operation is intended to protect Pakistan’s commercial shipping and energy supplies while maintaining safe passage on critical maritime routes linking the country to global markets.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, declined to comment on the matter.
The military had announced on Monday that the navy is conducting the operation to escort merchant vessels in close coordination with the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC).
“With approximately 90 percent of Pakistan’s trade conducted via sea, the operation aims to ensure that vital sea routes remain safe, secure, and uninterrupted,” the military’s media wing said in its earlier statement.
Pakistan has been hit hard by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with the government forced to hike the price of petrol and diesel by Rs55 per liter on Friday.
Pakistan imports most of its fuel from the Gulf region. The sharp rise in global oil prices has forced Islamabad to evaluate its fuel stocks and take tough measures to conserve petroleum products as the Gulf war intensifies.
