Last week, two ships collided off the coast of Malaysia. One of the two tankers, the “Ceres I”, was then towed away from the scene of the accident – and disappeared.
The Malaysian coast guard located the ship on Sunday night. The tanker, which belongs to the shadow fleet, was impounded.
“Ceres I” was towed away
The Coast Guard found the “Ceres I”, a Chinese-owned crude oil tanker, about 28 nm north of the island of Palau Tioman, 80 nm north of the scene of the accident. The high seas patrol vessel “Pekan” seized the stricken vessel and the two tugs that had towed it away. So far, the coast guard has not been able to assess the actual condition of the ship and its crew – they could not be contacted, it was reported.
Following the accident, in which the chemical tanker “Hafnia Nile” collided with the VLCC “Ceres I” off Malaysia, assistance was initially provided for both ships. The “Hafnia Nile” was abandoned and its crew is in Singapore. The fire on board the ship, which was carrying 300,000 barrels of petrol, caused extensive damage to its port side.
However, only 14 crew members were rescued from the “Ceres I”, the remaining 26 remained on board. After Malaysia sent more patrol boats to the scene of the accident, the crude oil tanker had already disappeared. The officials accused the crew of switching off their AiS signal and leaving without permission. A search then began for the tanker, which was believed to still be in Malaysian waters.
Trade in sanctioned oil
The “Ceres I” is often associated with the sanctioned trade in oil from Russia, Iran and Venezuela. A Hong Kong company is named as the owner, but its insurance status is unclear.
As reported by the Maritime Executive, the Iranian Ministry of Energy announced on Saturday that there was no crude oil on board the tanker. However, this contradicts earlier reports that the “Ceres I” was carrying up to two million barrels. A video from the Malaysian Coast Guard shows the tanker with a significantly reduced draught, which confirms that the cargo has been discharged.
The Malaysian Coast Guard announced that an oil slick had been discovered near the scene of the accident. It initiated an investigation into the incident.
