By Yew Lun Tian and Fathin Ungku
BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Wednesday it was seeking details about 25 of its nationals who were among 61 crew on two supertankers seized by Indonesia on suspicion of illegally transferring oil.
Indonesia said on Sunday it had seized the vessels after they were detected making the transfer from Iranian-flagged MT Horse to Panamanian-flagged MT Freya, causing an oil spill.
The Indonesian authorities said the seizure was not related to U.S. sanctions, which Washington imposed in a bid to shut off Iran’s oil exports in a dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
The MT Horse, owned by the National Iranian Tanker Company, and MT Freya, managed by Shanghai Future Ship Management Co, were detected off Indonesia’s Kalimantan island.
China seeks details about Chinese crew after tankers seized by Indonesia yahoo.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from yahoo.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The two ships, one crewed by Chinese nationals and the other by Iranians, had lowered their flags and turned off their automatic identification systems in an attempt to escape detection.
Both vessels caught in a suspected illegal ship-to-ship oil transfer on Sunday have been escorted to Batam island by for further investigations, reports Reuters.