Iranian tanker held in Indonesia back on its mission: NITC

The National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) says a crude oil tanker that had been held for more than four months off the Indonesian coast is back on its mission after being released by local authorities.

An NITC statement carried by the official IRNA news agency on Saturday said that the MT Horse would return to the Iranian waters after completing its mission.

The statement said that the tanker’s release in Indonesia had taken place with support of the high-ranking Iranian government officials as well as the consular assistance provided by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

The tanker company hailed the sacrifices shown by the “qualified and committed crew” of the MT Horse in defending the national interests of Iran, saying the crew showed that it was strongly determined to keep the flow of Iran’s petroleum exports despite all odds and difficulties.

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Indonesian authorities had seized MT Horse on allegations of involvement in illegal transfer of oil at sea. Iranian authorities have attributed the seizure to routine technical issues that happen in the shipping world.

An Indonesian court ruled earlier this week that the Iranian-flagged MT Horse could leave the country. The ruling did not impose any fines on the ship or its crew.

The NITC statement would not elaborate on details of MT Horse’s mission.

Facing a raft of US sanctions targeting its oil exports since 2018, Iran has used NITC’s fleet of tankers to ship crude to allied countries. MT Horse was involved in a long journey to South America last year as the ship carried some 2.1 million barrels of condensates to Venezuela, a country that has suffered  from similar US sanctions in recent years.

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