Dec 13 (Reuters) – Iranian authorities detained 18 crew members of a foreign tanker seized in the Gulf of Oman on Friday that they said was carrying 6 million litres of smuggled fuel, Iranian media reported on Saturday, citing the Hormozgan province judiciary.
It said those detained under the ongoing investigation include the captain of the tanker. The identity of the vessel and the nationalities of the crew members were not disclosed.
The authorities said the tanker had committed multiple violations, including “ignoring stop orders, attempting to flee, (and) lacking navigation and cargo documentation”.
Iran, which has some of the world’s lowest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the plunge in the value of its national currency, has been fighting rampant fuel smuggling by land to neighboring countries and by sea to Gulf Arab states.
(Reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din and Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Jan Harvey)
