Jakarta | Iran seeks explanation for Indonesian seizure of two ships Indonesia has said it has seized Iran’s MT Horse and MT Freya ships. Iran has asked for details. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatib al – Zadeh said that the International Maritime Organization and the shipping company were working to resolve the issue. Indonesia has seized two super tankers capable of carrying two million barrels of oil.
The ships were captured off the Indonesian province of Kalimantan at 5.30am local time. The move comes as Indonesia transfers oil from MT Horse to MT Freya. The seized tankers will be taken to Batam Island in Riau Island province for further investigation, Indonesian Coast Guard spokesman Vishnu Pramandita said. A spokesman said 61 crew members had been taken into custody, including Iranian and Chinese nationals on board.
Indonesia says the ships were caught because they did not show national flags, did not turn off automatic identification systems and did not respond to radio calls. It is alleged that the tracking systems on the tankers were disabled and oil was sold. MT Freya has been supplying four million barrels of crude oil from Iran to the port of Qingdao on China’s east coast over the past few months, said Emmely, a senior crude analyst at Refinitive.
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