NEW DELHI: Nine India- and foreign flagged ships have crossed the Strait of Hormuz in the past 72 hours, and seven of these are carrying India-bound cargo. With this, 44 ships carrying cargo for India had transited the critical sea route as of Saturday since the US-Israel and Iran conflict broke out on Feb 28. Of the nine ships, four are India-flagged and five are foreign-flagged. Another 15 ships of Indian interest are in the Persian Gulf awaiting safe passage, including 10 India-flagged vessels. Four of these are carrying fertilisers, and one is an energy cargo vessel, TOI has learnt. It’s learnt India-flagged bulk carrier APJ Priti 2 carrying 65,000 tonnes of fertilisers transited the strait Saturday. A day before, two other vessels, Desh Suraksha, with a little over one lakh tonnes of crude oil, and Prabhu Parvati, loaded with 18,732 tonnes of cargo, transited the critical sea route. Meanwhile, tensions escalated in West Asia again Saturday after the US launched strikes against Iran over a ship attack in the strait Thursday. Iran has retaliated against the strikes. As per official data, while only 19 transits happened between March 1 and June 17, the number of India-bound ships has increased to 25 in the 10 days since Iran and the US signed an MoU on June 17. People tracking movement of ships said 15 of the ships that have crossed the strait since March 1 are bulk carriers, followed by 13 LPG carriers, 11 crude tankers and two LNG carriers.