BEIJING (AP) – The Chinese government asked Indonesia on Wednesday to deal fairly with a group of detained Chinese sailors, but gave no indication of what its tanker was doing when it was found at sea transferring fuel from an Iranian ship. .
MT Horse, with an Iranian flag, and MT Freya, with a Panamanian flag, were seized on Sunday and are suspected of illegal fuel transfer at sea, shutting down their identification systems and other crimes. Indonesian officials said 36 Iranian and 25 Chinese crew members were detained.
Iran has sold oil on the black market since then President Donald Trump imposed sanctions in 2018 and threatened to penalize countries that bought Iranian oil. Iranian tankers turn off tracking equipment to hide their destinations.
Indonesian authorities have confirmed to the Chinese embassy that the crew members are “in good condition,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.
The embassy asked the Indonesian authorities “to investigate the case impartially in accordance with the law and to ensure the health, safety and legitimate rights and interests of the crew,” said Zhao.
He gave no details about the owner or destination of the Chinese ship.
On Wednesday, the two tankers were docked on Batam Island, in the Riau Islands, south of Singapore, the Indonesian government said.
In August, American officials said the Trump administration confiscated 1.1 million barrels of gasoline from four tankers bound for Iran to Venezuela.
In 2018, ships were captured in satellite photos transferring oil to North Korean ships off the Chinese coast in a possible effort to escape UN sanctions against North Korea. The Chinese government said it would investigate, but has yet to announce the results.