Recently, a political dispute erupted when Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera, along with several other members of the opposition, accused the ruling BJP government of overstating a recent maritime achievement. The government had previously highlighted what it considered a major policy win: the successful passage of two Indian-flagged LPG tankers safely navigating through the critical Strait of Hormuz while being actively escorted by the Indian Navy.

However, the opposition quickly pushed back against this narrative. They argued that the two vessels in question, named the Shivalik and the Nanda Devi, were not actually bringing necessary fuel supplies back to India. Instead, the claim was made that these massive tankers were traveling across the globe with a final destination of “Jacksons, USA”.

Taking to the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), Pawan Khera made a direct statement regarding the ships' movements. He wrote: “The ships merely sailed out of Ras Laffan, Qatar, under the Indian flag. The LPG on board is bound for Jacksons, USA – something anyone can easily verify on marine traffic trackers.” To support this assertion, various screenshots from the maritime tracking website MarineTraffic began widely circulating across social media channels. These images did indeed appear to show the designated destination field for the ships filled out as “JACKSONS [US]”. As the screenshots went viral, other users who repeated the claim shared the same image specifically showing the Shivalik heading toward Jacksons [US]. Because this sounded unfamiliar, some social media users began to speculate that the actual intended destination might be the well-known city of Jacksonville, Florida, and that the system simply displayed a shortened or misspelled version of the name.

Despite the rapid spread of this information, a basic geographical and logistical fact check reveals a major flaw in the theory: there is no seaport named Jacksons in the United States capable of docking large tanker ships. A comprehensive and thorough search through official US port directories, maritime databases, and the records of US Customs and Border Protection confirms this completely. There is absolutely no coastal seaport named "Jacksons" or "Jackson" anywhere along the American coastline that is built to receive massive LPG cargo vessels.

There is a location with a somewhat similar name, which is the inland Port of Jackson located near the city of Jackson, Mississippi. However, this is strictly a non-coastal facility situated on a river, making it physically impossible for large ocean-faring vessels to ever reach it. And while there is indeed a massive, functioning seaport in Jacksonville, Florida, the screenshots shared by the opposition clearly stated "Jacksons", not "Jacksonville".

Furthermore, the economic logic behind the claim simply does not hold up when looking at global energy markets. The United States produces the vast majority of the LPG it needs to meet its own domestic demand. While it is true that the US does import relatively small quantities of LPG—usually due to specific regional logistics, highly specialized product needs, or pre-existing trade agreements—they absolutely do not buy LPG from the Middle East. Any LPG that the United States does import comes primarily from neighboring Canada and a select few European nations. In reality, the US is one of the world's major exporters of LPG, and India happens to be one of the biggest customers buying American LPG. Even if the US were importing LPG from the Middle East, it is highly unlikely they would utilize an Indian-flagged vessel to do so.

The differences in how the two countries consume energy add another layer of context. In India, households rely almost exclusively on LPG for their daily cooking needs. In contrast, families in the United States primarily use electricity and piped natural gas for their homes. Most American houses are directly connected to an enormous, nationwide network of underground pipes that deliver natural gas straight to their kitchens and heaters. In the US, LPG is generally only used by a very small number of rural, off-grid homes, or by people doing outdoor cooking and grilling.

Ships sailing towards India

When we look at the latest Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, it becomes clear that the actual, physical destinations of these vessels are indeed ports right here in India. According to the most recent status updates visible on reliable marine traffic portals, the tanker Shivalik is currently located in the Gulf of Oman, sailing eastward. Its programmed destination is officially listed as Mundra, India, with an expected arrival date of March 16, 2026.

Similarly, the second Indian LPG tanker, the Nanda Devi, is currently navigating through the Persian Gulf. Its destination is listed as Kandla, India, and it is expected to arrive at the port around March 17, 2026. The tracking data perfectly aligns with the government's narrative: both of these massive tankers successfully loaded up with LPG at the port of Ras Laffan in Qatar. The Shivalik safely crossed the Strait of Hormuz on March 14 while under the protective escort of the Indian Navy. The Nanda Devi is currently making that exact same crossing through the Strait. Both ships are undeniably heading home to supply India with the fuel it needs for domestic use.

Once it became overwhelmingly clear that the initial claim was completely baseless and factually incorrect, Pawan Khera quietly deleted his original tweet from the platform.

How trackers temporarily displayed false endpoints

Because we know for a fact that no seaport named "Jacksons" exists in the US, we have to ask why it showed up on the tracker in the first place. The most logical explanation is that the “Jacksons [US]” entry was nothing more than a manual data input error in the vessels’ AIS (Automatic Identification System) transponders.

It is important to understand how these systems work. The crews working on the ships must type in the “reported destination” field by hand. This specific piece of data is not automatically generated, nor is it strictly verified or updated by any maritime authority or satellite system. Because it relies on human input, these destination fields often lag behind the ship's actual current voyage. Sometimes, the crew simply forgets to update the computer and leaves the old destination unchanged after loading new cargo.

Public tracking websites, such as MarineTraffic, are designed to clearly distinguish between two things: the "reported destination" that the crew typed in, and the "matched destination" that the computer system calculates based on the ship's actual real-time course, traveling speed, and current route. In this particular incident, it is highly probable that a crew member simply made an incorrect entry on the keyboard—whether by an honest mistake or for some other deliberate reason—but that manual error was eventually noticed and corrected in the system later on.