7 O2 tankers arrive at Mundra port from UAE
A total of seven ISO tankers with 20 MT Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) each arrived from United Arab Emirates (UAE) at Mundra Port in Gujarat on Tuesday, to help augment India’s oxygen availability in the fight against the raging COVID-19 pandemic.
“Further consolidating our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. 7 ISO tankers with 20 MT Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) each arrive at Mundra Port (India). First such shipment of LMO to India,” Arindam Bagchi, Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a tweet. India deeply values the support from UAE, and COVID-19 assistance from UAE will help augment oxygen availability, the MEA spokesperson added. Meanwhile, a ship departed from Kuwait’s Al-Shuaiba Port for India carrying 3 tanks, each with a capacity of 25 metric tons.
Delay in arrival of US consignment
US Air Force flights that were scheduled to leave for India with essential life-saving supplies have been delayed till Wednesday due to maintenance issues, the Pentagon said here on Monday. “We just received word from USTRANSCOM that the flights for India are ‘delayed until at least Wednesday due to maintenance issues,” a Pentagon spokesperson said. So far, only two US Air Force flights have landed in India.
Three US Air Force C-5 Super Galaxies and one C-17 Globemaster were scheduled to leave for India Monday to deliver critical supplies amid a surge in coronavirus cases there. Officials, however, did not say how this would impact the emergency aid supplies to India, in particular life-saving oxygen cylinders and concentrators.