Indonesia seizes Iranian supertanker over alleged illegal oil transfer, GPS spoofing

In this photo released by the Indonesian Coast Guard on July 11, 2023, officials arrest the crew of the Iranian-flagged supertanker MT Arman suspected of illegal oil transshipment near the North Natuna Sea on July 7, 2023. (Indonesian Coast Guard)

• MT Arman was carrying 272,569 tons of oil worth $303m
• Coast guard says vessel manipulated AIS to appear being located in Red Sea

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s coast guard said on Tuesday it had seized an Iranian-flagged supertanker suspected of illegally transferring crude oil and manipulating its automatic tracking system.
An Indonesian Coast Guard patrol vessel KN Pulau Marore spotted the Iranian-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier MT Arman 114 near the North Natuna Sea on Friday as it conducted oil transshipment with the Cameroon-flagged MT S Tinos.
The ships were caught in Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone and had no permit to transfer oil. Both tried to evade inspection by escaping to the exclusive zone of Malaysia, officials said.
“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 chased immediately until they entered the Malaysian EEZ.”
The 330-meter-long MT Arman was carrying 272,569 tons of light crude oil, or 2.3 million barrels, worth an estimated $303 million.
The KN Pulau Marore was allowed to enter Malaysian territory under an Association of Southeast Asian Nations coast guard cooperation agreement and chased the vessels with the help of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.
As the ships separated, and apparently tried to escape in different directions, efforts focused on the Iranian one, which was suspected of being the oil supplier.
When the MT Arman 114 was impounded, Indonesian officers said it had tried to manipulate its tracking system.
“The MT Arman 114 committed an unlawful act … by turning off the automatic information system (AIS), AIS spoofing (AIS data of the MT Arman indicated it was in the Red Sea),” the Indonesian Coast Guard said, adding that the vessel had no port clearance and is also suspected of illegally dumping oily wastewater.
The coast guard said they had detained 29 people aboard the ship, including its Egyptian captain, as well as Iranian and Syrian crew members.
Tankers carrying oil from countries hit by Western sanctions have been spotted in the areas of the Strait of Malacca in the west, through the Singapore Strait, to the waters of the South China Sea in the east.
In 2021, Indonesian authorities impounded two Iranian and Panamanian tankers off the western shore of Borneo Island. The vessels were reportedly conducting a ship-to-ship fuel transfer with their hulls covered to conceal their identities.