Malaysia denies links to tanker arrested by Iran.

Catogory : Market Report

MALAYSIA has confirmed that the vessel detained by Iran is not Malaysian-flagged and the crew are not Malaysians.

Earlier this week it was reported that a tanker was seized in Strait of Hormuz on suspicion of smuggling oil and its 16 crew arrested. Malaysian foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah told local media that the Malaysian Embassy in Tehran has confirmed that the vessel involved was First Lady and none of the crew members were Malaysian citizens. According to AIS data the vessel had been bound for Sharjah before it was stopped on December 27.

“A ship may be registered in Malaysia and fly the flag of another nation, but in this case, the owner is also not Malaysian. We have nothing to do with the incident,” said Mr Saifuddin.

According to a source the 1993-built, 3,019 dwt tanker First Lady (IMO: 9066095) is Panama-flagged and owned by RH Fuel Pte Ltd, a Singapore-registered, single vessel owning company. It is technically managed by Winson Shipping (Taiwan) Co Ltd.

The vessel was previously named Angel 206 before being renamed in November 2019. According to its website, Winson Group is an international energy trading company dealing in oil trading and running a bunkering business mainly in Asia. The group lists a fleet of 11 vessels prefixed Angel and also owns one very large crude carrier. Calls to its Taiwan-based technical management department were not answered and emailed queries had not been replied.