14 September 2012 | last updated at 12:55AM
'Hidden oil' claims denied
By ROY GOH | [email protected]
IRAN OIL ALLEGATIONS: Marine Dept says operation would have been easily spotted
KOTA KINABALU: THE Marine Department has denied allegations that millions of barrels of oil from Iran were being hidden off Labuan to evade Western sanctions.
According to a report by Reuters yesterday, crude oil was being loaded into empty vessels to await potential Asian buyers.
It also reported that last month, two tankers, Lantana and Motion, transferred one million and two million barrels of crude oil respectively to two floating storage vessels Titan Ruchira and Titan Tulshyan, off Pulau Kuraman where the Labuan Marine Park is located.
"We have no records of any of the vessels with these names entering Labuan," said a spokesman for the Marine Department.
He said vessels with the capacity of carrying one million barrels would measure nearly 500m long and would be easily detectable around the island.
To carry a cargo of a million barrels, equivalent to about 260,000 tonnes, a VLCC (very large crude carrier) would be required. For two million barrels, it would require a ULCC (ultra large crude carrier).
"If the ship-to-ship transfer was done near Pulau Kuraman, it would have been detected by park rangers as it would have taken days to unload the cargo."
The spokesman said no such operation was detected by the department or other authorities that work closely with them within its jurisdiction of three nautical miles (5.5km) off the shores of Labuan.
"Otherwise, we would have known about it."
A shipping agent said such an operation could take place in international waters but it would be fraught with risks, especially being out at sea with poor logistics and unpredictable weather.
On the possibility of the cargo being off-loaded into ships laid up in nearby Brunei Bay in Sabah waters off Sipitang, the spokesman said that would have attracted attention, too.
"Even if they could do it covertly and limit their operations to nighttime, it would probably have taken weeks to transfer the cargo. Surely, people would have witnessed two large vessels anchored side by side."
A spokesman for the Labuan-based Sabah Ports and Harbour Department, under the State Infrastructure Development Ministry, said regular checks were made on more than 60 ships anchored in Brunei Bay.
"Many are immobile and we consider these as 'cold' vessels.
"But there are also those we have categorised as 'hot' vessels, which shipping companies normally leave there for a short period with a skeleton crew.
"But one of the conditions for companies to lay up their vessels there is to ensure that they are empty."
'Hidden oil' claims denied
By ROY GOH | [email protected]
IRAN OIL ALLEGATIONS: Marine Dept says operation would have been easily spotted
KOTA KINABALU: THE Marine Department has denied allegations that millions of barrels of oil from Iran were being hidden off Labuan to evade Western sanctions.
According to a report by Reuters yesterday, crude oil was being loaded into empty vessels to await potential Asian buyers.
It also reported that last month, two tankers, Lantana and Motion, transferred one million and two million barrels of crude oil respectively to two floating storage vessels Titan Ruchira and Titan Tulshyan, off Pulau Kuraman where the Labuan Marine Park is located.
"We have no records of any of the vessels with these names entering Labuan," said a spokesman for the Marine Department.
He said vessels with the capacity of carrying one million barrels would measure nearly 500m long and would be easily detectable around the island.
To carry a cargo of a million barrels, equivalent to about 260,000 tonnes, a VLCC (very large crude carrier) would be required. For two million barrels, it would require a ULCC (ultra large crude carrier).
"If the ship-to-ship transfer was done near Pulau Kuraman, it would have been detected by park rangers as it would have taken days to unload the cargo."
The spokesman said no such operation was detected by the department or other authorities that work closely with them within its jurisdiction of three nautical miles (5.5km) off the shores of Labuan.
"Otherwise, we would have known about it."
A shipping agent said such an operation could take place in international waters but it would be fraught with risks, especially being out at sea with poor logistics and unpredictable weather.
On the possibility of the cargo being off-loaded into ships laid up in nearby Brunei Bay in Sabah waters off Sipitang, the spokesman said that would have attracted attention, too.
"Even if they could do it covertly and limit their operations to nighttime, it would probably have taken weeks to transfer the cargo. Surely, people would have witnessed two large vessels anchored side by side."
A spokesman for the Labuan-based Sabah Ports and Harbour Department, under the State Infrastructure Development Ministry, said regular checks were made on more than 60 ships anchored in Brunei Bay.
"Many are immobile and we consider these as 'cold' vessels.
"But there are also those we have categorised as 'hot' vessels, which shipping companies normally leave there for a short period with a skeleton crew.
"But one of the conditions for companies to lay up their vessels there is to ensure that they are empty."
