Indonesia, US in talks to refloat supertanker grounded near gas pipeline supplying S’pore

SINGAPORE - The Indonesian authorities are in discussions with the US government about operations to refloat the ageing supertanker that ran aground in Indonesian waters, according to industry sources familiar with the matter.

Young Yong, carrying close to two million barrels of oil, has been sanctioned by the United States Treasury for being linked to an international oil smuggling network that facilitated oil trades to fund Hizbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force.

A source familiar with the situation said the rescue of the 21-year-old tanker is no longer being overseen by local port officials from Karimun. “The matter has now been transferred to the Indonesian Navy, which is engaging the US to come up with a plan of action to refloat the tanker.” 

A second source told The Straits Times: “The Indonesian side is not equipped to carry out this operation on their own. They just don’t have the expertise to do so. Besides, now that there are sanctions on the vessel, they are approaching with caution.”

The source added that the US and Indonesia are weighing the option of appointing a US company to assist in the salvage operations.

The source also noted that extended delays to refloat the ship and pump out the oil from the grounded tanker could put the ship under even more stress.

The Straits Times understands that Singapore Salvage Engineers – the Singapore company initially engaged to assist with the operations to refloat the tanker – has since pulled out because of concerns over the vessel being under sanctions.

Although Singapore Salvage Engineers declined to comment when contacted by ST, it is understood that the company had completed phase one of the operation, which involved a site survey of where the tanker had run aground.

The US Treasury has yet to respond to queries from ST about how they intend to deal with the grounded, sanctioned tanker.

On Monday, Reuters reported Rear-Admiral Arsyad Abdullah of the Indonesian navy as saying that refloating the tanker could take up to a month. He added that an operation was under way to free the ship.

Despite repeated attempts over the past week, ST has been unable to contact maritime and port officials overseeing this incident in Karimun.

The supertanker has been linked to Ukrainian national Viktor Sergiyovich Artemov.

The US Treasury has said that Mr Artemov was responsible for overseeing a vast network of cover companies and shipping services used to receive, conceal and trade the sanctioned oil. It added that Mr Artemov had used his companies to buy and sell oil tankers that were then used to transport blended Iranian oil on behalf of the oil smuggling network.

On Nov 1, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said the tanker had grounded off Takong Kecil in the Riau Islands in the Singapore Strait around 8.20pm on Oct 26. It is not impeding traffic in either the Singapore or Malacca straits.

MPA had also said that before the incident, its Port Operations Control Centre had sent warnings through its Vessel Traffic Information System to the tanker on the potential risk of it grounding due to shallow waters.

In response to queries, the Energy Market Authority said last Thursday that the grounded vessel is in the vicinity of subsea pipelines that carry natural gas for power generation and industrial use. It added that the pipelines were rock-armoured for additional protection.  “Thus far, gas supply and pressure from these pipelines remain normal,” it added.
Luke Pachymuthu