SINGAPORE – The ageing supertanker that ran aground in Indonesian waters in late October has been successfully refloated, according to the Indonesian National Shipowners’ Association.

The association, a member of the Asian Shipowners’ Association, told The Straits Times: “One of our AHTS (anchor handling tug supply) vessels is involved in the salvage activities.”

It added in an e-mail reply late on Thursday: “The latest update from our vessel is that this evening, the tanker has been refloated and towed out of the grounding location.” 

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said on Friday that it was informed by the Indonesian authorities that the tanker, Young Yong, had been successfully refloated on Thursday and is now anchored at Nipah Anchorage in Indonesian waters. It also noted that there was no report of pollution in Singapore waters.

The 21-year-old supertanker had run aground off Takong Kecil in the Riau Islands in the Singapore Strait at around 8.20pm on Oct 26, close to a critical natural gas pipeline supplying Singapore.

The MPA had previously said that the grounded tanker was not impeding traffic in either the Singapore or Malacca Strait.

In response to queries, the Energy Market Authority said last week that the grounded vessel was in the vicinity of subsea pipelines that carry natural gas to Singapore 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 said in its response to ST.

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.

The tanker was linked to Ukrainian national Viktor Sergiyovich Artemov, whom the US Treasury said was responsible for overseeing the vast network of cover companies and shipping services used to receive, conceal and trade the sanctioned oil.

The US Treasury said Mr Artemov 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.

The US Treasury did not reply to ST when e-mailed for comment.