JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – Indonesian authorities have detained Iranian and Chinese crew members of two tankers who were seized for illegally transferring oil in Indonesian waters, an official said on Tuesday.
“MT Horse, with an Iranian flag, and MT Freya, with a Panamanian flag, are now on their way to the island of Batam. The crews are being detained for investigation, ”said Maritime Safety Agency spokesman Wisnu Pramandita.
He said 36 Iranian and 25 Chinese crew members were detained and documents from the vessels were seized.
He said the tankers, who were seized on Sunday, are suspected of a variety of violations, including illegal fuel transfers at sea, oil spills, failure to display national flags, name coverage on their hulls, shutdown of identification systems and illegal docking.
“MT Freya did the oil spill,” said Pramandita.
Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said officials are still investigating the ships’ actions.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday that Iran had asked Indonesia to provide more details on the situation of the Iranian oil tanker.
“We asked Indonesia to give us more information. There have always been technical problems. Both the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran are investigating the case. ”Khatibzadeh said.
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Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.