Indonesian navy seizes tanker and crew, says they stole oil

Indonesia’s navy announced today that it has seized a tanker and the tanker’s crew, the seamen were wanted on charges of stealing almost 300,00 barrels of crude oil out of Cambodia’s reserves. The ship was stopped on July 27 while it was off the coast of Sumatra, says the Indonesian navy. Days prior, Phnom Penh had issued a red notice through Interpol to seize the ship. The Indonesian navy says it questioned the crew at its base close to Singapore.

The tanker had been sailing from Thailand bound for Indonesia’s Batam island when it shut off its identification system and dropped anchor near the island, says naval authorities. The ship’s captain faces a year in prison and a USD $14,000 dollar fine if convicted on maritime violation charges.

“The Indonesian navy will not hesitate to take action against any type of crimes committed within Indonesia’s jurisdictional territory,” says Fleet commander Arsyad Abdullah. The ship had been rented by Singapore’s KrisEnergy for storage connected to Cambodia’s earlier bid to get at its own oil, adds officials. The company reportedly couldn’t pay off its debts and filed for liquidation back in June, while still owing money to the tanker crew.

The director general of petroleum at the Cambodian Ministry of Mines and Energy, says the company told their government that the tanker stole the oil, roughly 290,000 barrels of crude oil. He adds that the tanker says KrisEnergy owed the tanker money.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post