The Indian Navy on Sunday brought to India 340 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen, more than 3,700 oxygen cylinders and other medical supplies from abroad as the country continued to reel under a severe second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

The supplies were brought by two warships from Singapore, Brunei and Qatar.

Indian Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said naval ship INS Jalashwa arrived at Visakhapatnam bringing 300 metric tonnes of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) and over 3,600 oxygen cylinders from Singapore and Brunei.

It was the largest consignment of LMO brought to India from abroad.

The ship also transported some other medical equipment including ventilators and empty cryogenic oxygen containers.

Another ship, INS Trikand, arrived in Mumbai carrying 40 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen and 100 oxygen cylinders from Qatar, Commander Madhwal said.

The two warships are part of nine ships deployed by the Indian Navy under operation ‘Samudra Setu II’ for shipment of liquid medical oxygen and associated equipment from friendly foreign countries in the Persian Gulf and South-East Asia.

The Indian Navy stepped up its efforts as ships from all three naval commands in Mumbai, Visakhapatnam and Kochi were deployed to bring oxygen and other medical equipment under operation ‘Samudra Setu II’ following a shortage of oxygen supply in the country triggered by rising Covid-19 cases.

Last year, the Indian Navy had launched Operation Samudra Setu as part of the Vande Bharat evacuation mission under which it brought back to India around 4,000 stranded Indians from Maldives, Sri Lanka and Iran.

The Indian Air Force also brought to India a large number of cryogenic oxygen containers and other medical equipment from several countries in the last few weeks.

On Saturday, the IAF brought oxygen containers from three countries.

An IL-76 airlifted three cryogenic containers from Bangkok to Hyderabad while four such containers were brought to Hindan from Frankfurt and four from Ostend in Belgium to Panagarh in West Bengal.

As India battles a devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, around 40 countries have sent medical supplies including oxygen-related equipment to help it tide over the situation.

The leading countries that have supplied assistance to India included the US, Russia, France, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Belgium, Romania, Luxembourg, Singapore, Portugal, Sweden, New Zealand, Kuwait and Mauritius.