Gov’t in talks with Indonesia for return of missing tanker

Gov’t in talks with Indonesia for return of missing tanker

Cambodia is negotiating with Indonesian authorities for the return of a tanker carrying 290,000 barrels of oil. The tanker was anchored in the Apsara oil field where the Cambodian unit of Singapore’s KrisEnergy was extracting oil.

The AFP news agency said the Indonesian navy has seized the vessel and was questioning the crew of 13 Indians, three Bangladeshis and a trio from Myanmar at its base near Singapore. Its Bangladeshi captain could face up to a year in prison and a $14,000 fine if convicted on maritime violation charges, the navy said.

The Strovolos, which flies the flag of the Bahamas and is owned by the Strovolos Shipping Co Ltd was en route to the port of Batam, Indonesia and was expected to arrive there on July 28, according to Vesselfinder.com.

Cambodia’s first oil field got off to a promising start. KrisEnergy extracted the first barrels back in December and a drop of oil was preserved in a tear-shaped container and put on display at Phnom Penh’s Win-Win Monument. Six months later, the Singapore company announced it couldn’t pay its debts and was going into liquidation.

KrisEnergy held a 95 percent stake in the block with the government owning the remaining 5 percent.

Earlier this month Prime Minister Hun Sen called Cambodia’s first venture into crude production a failure and revealed the tanker carrying the oil had fled Cambodian waters.

“Even the pumped oil was taken away silently from Cambodia. We tried to block them, but the ship took the oil away into Thailand’s territory,” Mr Hun Sen said.

Ministry of Mines and Energy spokesman Cheap Sour told Khmer Times yesterday, “The tanker had left Cambodia unlawfully with the crude oil. It was said that KrisEnergy owed some money to the tanker’s owner. The tanker has been caught by Indonesian authorities and the Cambodian government is working with Indonesia on this matter. The Cambodian authorities are taking legal action against the tanker and KrisEnergy.

KrisEnergy investor relations and corporate communications Vice-President Tanya Pang did not respond to requests for comment.

KrisEnergy signed an agreement with the Cambodian government in 2017 to develop the 3,083 square kilometres in the Khmer basin in the Gulf of Thailand known as Block A when few companies were willing to invest in it. The government estimated it held 30 million barrels of oil. KrisEnergy promised to pump as much as 7,500 barrels a day but by the end of March was producing just 2,493 barrels per day.

The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands appointed Michael Pearson of FFP Limited and Luke Furler of AJCapital Advisory to oversee its liquidation. No other company has applied to extract oil from any of Cambodia’s offshore or onshore blocks. Khmer Times