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Indonesia seizes Iranian-flagged tanker suspected of illegal oil transshipment

11 July 2023 10:33 (UTC +04:00)

Indonesia's coast guard said on Tuesday it has seized an Iranian-flagged supertanker suspected of involvement in the illegal transshipment of crude oil and vowed to strengthen maritime patrols, APA reports citing Reuters.

The Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), MT Arman 114, was carrying 272,569 metric tons of light crude oil, valued at 4.6 trillion rupiah ($304 million) and was suspected of transferring the oil to another vessel without a permit, Indonesia's Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) said.

Bakamla chief Aan Kurnia told reporters the vessel was captured after it was spotted near Indonesia's North Natuna Sea conducting a ship-to-ship oil transfer with the Cameroon-flagged MT S Tinos, on Friday.

The two supertankers tried to escape and authorities decided to focus their pursue on MT Arman, assisted by Malaysian authorities as the vessel sailed into Malaysian waters, Aan said.

MT Arman was also suspected of violating other maritime regulations, such as manipulating its automatic identification system (AIS), Bakamla said.