Coast Guard Indonesia stopped two Iranian tankers

According to a spokesman for the Indonesian Coast Guard, as quoted by Reuter's agency, tankers stopped on Sunday were "catched red-handed" while pumping oil from an Iranian unit onto a Panamanian-flagged unit owned by Chinese company Shanghai Future Ship Management. A leak of raw material was observed around the other ship.

Ships had their flags hidden and transponders disabled and ignored radio communications. The detention took place in the waters around Borneo and the ships will be escorted to Batam Island for further investigation. 61 crew members were detained.

In response to the detention, Iran's MFA spokesman Said Chatibzadeh reported at a press conference that the Indonesian authorities were asked for "more details", due to "various reports on this subject".

In 2018, US authorities imposed sanctions on Iranian oil exports. Chinese operators have previously been of interest to the services for the import of raw material from Iran.

Despite restrictions, Iran has increased oil extraction in recent months pending the abolition of sanctions by the new Washington administration.

Source: PAP