Maritime Security Agency News

Indonesia's coast guard said on Tuesday it seized an Iranian-flagged supertanker suspected of involvement in the illegal transshipment of crude oil, and vowed to toughen maritime patrols.The MT Arman 114 was carrying 272,569 metric tons of light crude oil, valued at 4.6 trillion rupiah ($304 million), when it was seized last week, the Indonesian authorities said.The Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) was suspected of transferring oil to another vessel without a permit on Friday, the Southeast Asian nation's maritime security agency said.The vessel was captured after being spotted in Indonesia's North Natuna Sea, carrying out a ship-to-ship oil transfer with the Cameroon-flagged MT S Tinos, the agency's chief, Aan Kurnia, said.

Indonesia has increased patrols around islands near the disputed South China Sea after a Chinese coast guard vessel "trespassed" into Indonesia's exclusive economic zone, authorities said on Friday.The Chinese vessel entered waters off the coast of the northern Natuna islands in mid-December, leading Indonesian foreign ministry to issue a “strong protest” and summon the Chinese ambassador in Jakarta.Speaking in Beijing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang…

Somewhere on its journey from the waters off Iran, around Africa's southern tip and into the Mediterranean, the Grace 1 oil tanker lost the flag under which it sailed and ceased to be registered to Panama. Iran later claimed it as its own.The ship carrying 2 million barrels of Iranian crude was seized by British Royal Marines off Gibraltar, raising tensions in the Gulf where Iran detained a UK-flagged ship in retaliation.Grace 1 remains impounded, not because of its flag but because it was suspected of taking oil to Syria in breach of EU sanctions, an allegation that Iran denies.Yet Panama's move on May 29 to strike it from its register…

Malaysian authorities thwarted the hijacking of a Thai oil tanker on Thursday and arrested 10 suspected Indonesian pirates on board the ship, a maritime security agency commander said. A special team from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) stormed the MT Tanker MGT1, off the coast of the northeastern state of Terengganu, nearly 10 hours after it was reported missing on Wednesday. While the 10 were detained on the tanker, three suspects on a smaller boat nearby managed to escape, and an MMEA vessel has been sent to find them, the agency's chief, Maritime Admiral Zulkifli Abu Bakar, said in a statement. The boat was spotted near the tanker by a surveillance aircraft.

Attendees at the IQPC Offshore Patrol Vessels Middle East 2013 conference agree that what happens at sea in the Arabian Gulf and the Middle East has implications that ripple, or more correctly rumble throughout the globe. Speakers and panelists underscored the importance of maritime domain awareness and security for military, commercial, legal and environmental reasons, and how they are all connected. The IQPC Offshore Patrol Vessel conference at the Jumeirah at Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi is being attended by naval, coast guard, security, and other maritime and military professionals.

As policy leaders wrapped up the Manama Dialog, an international security conference in Bahrain, maritime and naval leaders commenced their meetings in Abu Dhabi to discuss practical implementation of those policies and improving abilities of nations and partners to meet growing challenges to maritime security, safety and sovereignty. The IQPC Offshore Patrol Vessel conference at the Jumeirah at Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi is being attended by naval, coast guard, security, and other maritime and military professionals.

The Pakistan government has decided to upgrade the basic infrastructure for construction of commercial cargo ships and warships, including F-22 P frigates, in Karachi, according to a report on www.uniquepakistan.com. The government has allocated funds for the fiscal year 2007-08 and it has already dropped Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works Limited (KSEW) from its proposed privatization list. It is envisaged that if shipbuilding projects for the Pakistan Navy, Karachi Port Trust (KPT)…

Nine fishermen were missing while eight were rescued on July 25 as a fishing boat capsized in open sea five nautical miles off Karachi shore. According to PakTribune.com, Al-Tahir, a boat carrying 17 fishermen, went to sea July 24 for fishing but overturned in open sea at Chhota Talhar point about five nautical miles off the Paradise Point coast. Maritime Security Agency, on emergency basis, sent off its searching ship to find out the drowned fishermen which continued its search operation until the dark. Fire Brigade personnel found two fishermen of close to Rahman Goth beach in near unconscious condition, which informed them about the boat-capsize.