New Delhi

Amid ongoing developments in the West Asia region, a senior official from the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said on Monday that all Indian seafarers and ships operating in the Persian Gulf region are remain safe and there has been no report of any incident in the past 24 hours.

Speaking at a joint inter-ministerial briefing, Special Secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Rajesh Kumar Sinha stated that all Indian vessels and crew are currently being closely monitored, and 8 sailors returned safely to India in the last 24 hours.

"18 Indian ships in the Persian Gulf with 485 seafarers are all safe. No maritime incidents reported in the last 24 hours," Sinha said.

He added that ports across states are operating smoothly without congestion. "Two LPG carriers with 94,000 metric tonnes are expected to dock at Mumbai and New Mangalore ports on March 31 and April 1," he informed.

He later added that India continues to ensure an uninterrupted maritime operation and energy supply.

"We are maintaining continuous coordination with the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, the Ministry of External Affairs, Indian missions abroad, and other stakeholders in the maritime sector," he said.

Further, Joint Secretary of the Department of Fertilisers, Aparna S Sharma, added that there was a significant surge in the prices of all these commodities in the global fertiliser market, and freight and related costs also rose amidst the prevailing situation.

"Urea and DAP are being made available to farmers at regulated prices: Rs 266 per 45 kg bag of Urea, and Rs 1,350 per 50 kg bag of DAP..." Sharma said.

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She added that the domestic urea production was impacted, resulting in a temporary initial decline in output of approximately 30,000 to 35,000 tonnes per day.

She added, "Other key feedstocks such as ammonia, sulfur, and sulfuric acid are also of critical importance to us for our domestic production, which has been impacted. Amidst the prevailing situation, there has been a significant surge in the prices of all these commodities in the global fertiliser market, and our freight and related costs have also risen."