Indonesia Seizes Suspected Iranian Oil Tanker

The Indonesian Coast Guard (Bakamla) announced on Tuesday, July 9, that it had seized an Iranian-flagged oil tanker suspected of being involved in "illegal crude oil transfer." According to Reuters, the Coast Guard stated in a press release: "The Arman 114 vessel, carrying over 272,000 tons of light crude oil, is suspected of transferring oil without permission to another ship." The Indonesian Coast Guard further stated that the Arman 114 tanker was seized while transferring oil to another vessel named "Stinoz" flagged in Cameroon. According to the Coast Guard's statement, the Arman tanker is also suspected of violating other maritime regulations such as "turning off the automatic identification system, sailing without a flag, and operating without port clearance." In January, an Iranian-flagged tanker and a Panamanian-flagged tanker were also seized on suspicion of illegal oil transfer in Indonesian waters. These tankers were released after four months, and according to a court ruling on Batam Island, their officials paid a fine of 2 billion rupiah, equivalent to about $140,000, for oil leakage into the sea. Following the initiation of U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2016, some international tanker tracking companies reported that Iran's state oil transfer fleet had turned off its ships' navigation systems to circumvent sanctions and transferred cargoes at sea to tankers of companies requesting Iranian oil. The U.S. Navy: Iran Seized a Ship Suspected of Smuggling. Exclusive: The United States, its allies, and partners around the world and in the Middle East will respond to Iran's aggression. The U.S. Navy "prevented the seizure" of two ships by the Islamic Republic. Financial Times: The U.S. is likely to begin unloading the seized Iranian tanker. Iran has transferred the seized tankers to "south of Bandar Abbas."