Indonesia seizes Iranian tanker for suspected illegal oil transfer in its territorial waters

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities say they have seized an Iranian tanker and arrested its crew members for illegally transferring oil to another vessel in the country’s exclusive economic zone. Officials said Wednesday the Iranian tanker, which was also carrying three passengers besides its crew, was seized by Indonesian Coast Guard with the assistance of its Malaysian counterpart on Friday. The Iranian tanker, transporting 2.3 million barrels of crude oil worth 4.6 trillion rupiah ($305 million), was seized while carrying out illegal transshipment activities to a Cameroon-flagged tanker near Natuna waters in Indonesia. Iran’s state-owned fleet of oil tankers routinely turns off their Automatic Identification System trackers to try and mask where they deliver their cargo.