Indonesia seizes two tankers conducting Iranian oil transfer

Indonesia’s coast guard arrested the Iranian-flagged Horse and the Panamanian-flagged Freya tankers on Sunday over suspected illegal fuel transfers.

The tankers, seized in waters off Kalimantan province, were escorted to Batam island for further investigation.

“The tankers, first detected at 5:30 a.m. local time concealed their identity by not showing their national flags, turning off automatic identification systems and did not respond to a radio call,” a statement from the coast guard said, adding that an oil spill was also detected around the Freya.

Iran has resorted to plenty of illicit tanker manoeuvres since sanctions were reimposed on the country in 2018.