JAKARTA: Indonesia’s coast guard said on Tuesday it seized an Iranian-flagged supertanker suspected of involvement in the illegal transshipment of crude oil, and vowed to toughen maritime patrols.

The MT Arman 114 was carrying 272,569 metric tons of light crude oil, valued at $304 million, when it was seized last week, the Indonesian authorities said.

The Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) was suspected of transferring oil to another vessel without a permit on Friday, the Sou­theast Asian nation’s maritime security agency said.

The vessel was captured after being spotted in Indonesia’s North Natuna Sea, carrying out a ship-to-ship oil transfer with the Cameroon-flagged MT S Tinos, the agency’s chief, Aan Kurnia, said.

“MT Arman was spoofing their automatic identification system (AIS) to show its position was in the Red Sea but in reality it is here,” Aan told reporters.

“So it seems like they already had a malicious intent,” Aan said, adding that the vessel also dumped oil into the ocean, in violation of Indonesia’s environmental law.

The vessels’ operators could not be immediately reached for comment.

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2023