The operator of the Bahamas-flagged products tanker MT Strovolos is denying ‘inaccurate’ media reports that the vessel was detained for carrying illegally loaded Cambodian crude oil and anchoring in Indonesian waters without permission, rather the tanker was in Indonesia only to conduct a ‘long-overdue’ crew change.
The Strovolos and its crew were detained Tuesday by Indonesian authorities who allege the vessel had anchored in its waters off Batam without permission and is also wanted by the Cambodian government on suspicion of illegally loading 300,000 barrels of crude oil.
However, a statement from the ship’s operator, World Tankers Management, insists that the vessel was in Indonesia purely for humanitarian reasons and has been operating within the scope of its charter. According to the statement, the ship’s charterers loaded a cargo of crude oil at Cambodia’s Apsara field in the Gulf of Thailand back in May “on the understanding that the cargo belonged to the charters.”
After the charterers failed pay hire, the Strovolos and its crew were forced to sail to Thailand to refuel and, while there, they also tried to conduct a crew change, as many of the ship’s crew had remained on board since September. Eventually, the charter was terminated and the vessel was withdrawn from its chartered service, leaving World Tankers Management to request that the cargo owners arrange for the removal of the cargo by ship-to-ship transfer “at a convenient and practical location,” yet no such agreement was able to reached.
According to the statement, when the vessel arrived in Thailand, it was boarded by the Royal Thai Navy at the request of the Cambodian government.
