The Malaysian authorities have seized the Chinese-controlled VLCC that fled after being involved in a collision with a Hafnia-owned LR1 tanker in the South China Sea last Friday.
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said in a statement posted on social media that the 300,000-dwt Ceres I (built 2001) was located 28 nautical miles (52 km) north-east of Tioman Island on Sunday.
Two tugboats were towing the fire-stricken tanker.
“Offshore patrol vessel KM Pekan belonging to Maritime Malaysia has successfully detected and overtook the tanker Ceres I,” the agency said.
The patrol vessel also apprehended the two tugboats suspected of being involved in helping in the tanker’s escape.
The Sao Tome & Principe-flagged Ceres I was involved in a collision with the 74,200-dwt Hafnia Nile (built 2017) in the South China Sea, north-east of the Singaporean island of Pedra Branca on Friday.
Both ships subsequently caught fire. The entire crew of the Hafnia Nile was evacuated from the vessel, while 26 of the 40 crew members on the Ceres I remained on board to fight the fire.
The MMEA said late on Saturday that the Ceres I had turned off its AIS transponder and disappeared from the accident scene.
Photos taken of the tanker at the time of its capture on Sunday showed the fire to have been extinguished and the vessel in light condition, which suggested that it had no cargo on board at the time of the collision.
The Ceres I has been accused of lifting Iranian oil in contravention of US sanctions by United Against Nuclear Iran, a New York-based pro-sanctions pressure group.
Shanghai Prosperity Ship Management, its manager, has been raising suspicions of sanctions-busting activities for five years, Tradewinds reported on Friday.
The Iranian oil ministry said on Saturday that no Iranian oil was on board the tanker.
Hafnia said on Saturday that salvage experts had boarded the Hafnia Nile and an initial assessment had found that the fire was no longer burning on board.
A towing connection was established with one of the attending tugs to prevent the Hafnia Nile from drifting further out to sea.
The product tanker is loaded with a cargo of naphtha that it was ferrying from Spain to Japan.
Gard, the Hafnia Nile’s Norwegian insurer, told TradeWinds on Friday that it had yet to make contact with the insurer of the Ceres I, and the identity of its protection and indemnity provider remained a mystery.
The MMEA said on Sunday that air surveys conducted over the weekend found “some traces of oil spillage” at the location of the collision.
