Indonesia’s coastguards seized an Iran-flagged supertanker suspected of illegally transporting oil earlier this week.
(Bloomberg) — Indonesia’s coastguards seized an Iran-flagged supertanker suspected of illegally transporting oil earlier this week.
Vessel Arman 114 was carrying 272,000 tons of crude oil, Head of Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) Aan Kurnia told reporters on Tuesday. Authorities seized the ship after spotting it on July 7 while transferring oil to a Cameroon-flagged ship.
Authorities are still investigating the source and destination of the oil, Kurnia said. The vessel had 29 personnel on board.
“There should have been tax income coming to Indonesia from this transaction,” said Kurnia. Indonesia’s coastguard worked with its Malaysian counterpart to catch the ship after it crossed maritime borders.
This isn’t the first time the Southeast Asian nation captured an Iranian-flagged oil tanker.
In 2021, Indonesian authorities apprehended Iranian vessel Horse and Panamanian-flagged Freya for carrying out a ship-to-ship transfer of oil while shutting off identification systems and spilling oil. Coastguards also captured another Panamanian-flagged tanker later in the same year.
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