JAKARTA – Indonesia’s coast guard announced on Tuesday that it has apprehended an Iranian-flagged supertanker suspected of unlawfully transporting crude oil and tampering with its autonomous tracking system.
On Friday, an Indonesian Coast Guard patrol vessel, KN Pulau Marore, detected the Iranian-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier MT Arman 114 while it transshipped oil with the Cameroon-flagged MT S Tinos near the North Natuna Sea.
The ships were intercepted in Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone and lacked the necessary permits to transport oil. According to officials, both attempted to avoid inspection by fleeing to Malaysia’s exclusive zone.
“The two ships did not respond to communication and tried to avoid the inspection process by escaping while the hose was still attached (the transshipment process was still ongoing),” the coast guard said in a statement. “They were immediately pursued until they entered the Malaysian EEZ.”
The 330-meter-long MT Arman was transporting 272,569 tonnes of light crude oil, or 2.3 million barrels, valued at $303 million.
Under an Association of Southeast Asian Nations coast guard cooperation agreement, the KN Pulau Marore was allowed to enter Malaysian jurisdiction and pursued the vessels with the assistance of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.
As the ships dispersed and appeared to try to flee in different directions, attention was drawn to the Iranian ship, which was suspected of being the oil supply.
When the MT Arman 114 was apprehended, Indonesian officials said it had attempted to tamper with its tracking system.
“The MT Arman 114 committed an unlawful act… by turning off the automatic information system (AIS), AIS spoofing (the MT Arman’s AIS data indicated it was in the Red Sea),” the Indonesian Coast Guard said, adding that the vessel lacked port clearance and is suspected of illegally dumping oily wastewater.
According to the coast guard, 29 persons were held aboard the ship, including the Egyptian skipper and Iranian and Syrian crew members.
Tankers carrying oil from countries sanctioned by the West have been detected in the Malacca Strait in the west, the Singapore Strait in the east, and the South China Sea in the west.
Indonesian authorities seized two Iranian and Panamanian vessels off the western coast of Borneo Island in 2021. The warships were apparently conducting a ship-to-ship fuel transfer while concealing their identities by covering their hulls.
