The Cambodian government has alleged that World Tankers Management knew it owned the allegedly stolen oil before one of its ships was detained and its crew arrested.
The country's Ministry of Mines and Energy said on Thursday that the nearly 300,000 barrels of oil aboard the 47,100-dwt Strovolos (built 1999) were never the property of any other entity besides the Kingdom of Cambodia.
World Tankers Management has said it believed Singaporean firm KrisEnergy had the right to sell the oil, less royalties paid to Cambodia.
"The theft and/or misappropriation of the crude oil by the owners, managers and the crew of the MT Strovolos, and their accomplices constitute criminal acts pursuant to the relevant Cambodian laws," the ministry said in a statement.
"The ownership of the crude oil and the violation of Cambodian laws were clearly notified to, among others, the owners and managers and crew of MT Strovolos some months ago."
The ministry further alleged that instead of returning the oil, the ship went to Thailand and then Cambodia, turning off its automatic identification system (AIS) when leaving Cambodian waters, entering Thai waters and entering Indonesian waters.
The Strovolos was arrested in July in Indonesia after Cambodia requested that Interpol publish a red notice publicising its claims of stolen oil.
The ship had been on charter to Singapore's KrisEnergy to store oil pumped from the Apsara field offshore Cambodia before the company went into liquidation in June.
World Tankers Management has argued that the ship was running low on fuel and the crew was in desperate need of relief when it was sent to Thailand.
There, it said Thai authorities boarded the ship, but were persuaded by the International Maritime Organization and the Bahamas Maritime Authority, the Strovolos' flag state, to refuel and proceed to Indonesia for a crew change.
Thailand's Covid-19 protocols prevented a crew change from happening there.
When the ship arrived in Indonesian waters in late July, the ship was arrested by the navy, with authorities arguing it had its AIS system off, which World Tankers Management denies.
The ministry said when the Strovolos departed Cambodian waters, there was a dispute between the vessel interests and KrisEnergy.
"Whatever the position was and is, this has nothing to do with the Royal Government of Cambodia," the ministry said.
Since, the Strovolos' 19 crew members have been arrested and Cambodia said the captain had been convicted of illegally entering Indonesian waters and sentenced to a custodial prison sentence and a fine.
Earlier this week, World Tankers said the arrest was a blatant, unethical example of innocent seafarers being used as pawns in a commercial dispute.
In its statement, the ministry said that if seafarer welfare was a concern, the ship would have had its automatic information system on and that it would return the oil to Cambodia and "desist from their attempts to extract money from the Kingdom of Cambodia for matters that relate to disputes they may have with KrisEnergy".
World Tankers Management has been approached for comment.
