Indian fiscal authorities have seized at least three small tankers over allegations of illegally importing Iranian crude oil.
The Special Investigation and Intelligence Branch (SIIB) of India's customs has detailed grounds for the arrest of one of the three vessels, the 20,000-dwt Opec Galaxy (built 2008), in a document provided to TradeWinds.
The document signed by SIIB preventive officer Pradeep Benerjee of the Mundra Customs House in Gujarat state alleges that Opec Galaxy arrived bearing falsified documents.
The ship claimed in its cargo manifest and nine bills of lading to be carrying methanol from Sohar in Oman when it arrived in India, according to the Indian authorities. But the vessel's deck log book, cargo record book, visitor log book, and anchor watch log record loading some 17,300 tonnes of cargo at the Iranian port call between 23 and 26 January.
The vessel's master told customs authorities the cargo declaration was done on charterers' orders.
"On the basis of intelligence received that the goods declared as 'methanol' and originated from 'Oman' is misdeclared and unloaded from the vessel Opec Galaxy, an enquiry has been initiated by the SIIB section, Customs House, Mundra," wrote Banerjee.
A local source believes the claims against the vessel are in the range of $10m.
Sources in India say India's Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) also seized the 31,200-dwt methanol chemical tanker Brave Worth (built 1994) and 11,600-dwt Chem Trader (built 1999) under a process of maritime attachment, in addition to Opec Galaxy.
The other vessels are detained at Mumbai.
Reference sources list both Chem Trader and Opec Galaxy with the West of England protection and indemnity club and Brave Worth with the London Club.
Under Indian law, the fiscal authority can attach vessels without a court order, Indian maritime lawyers tell TradeWinds.
The ships are unrelated by ownership but sources with insight into the DRI attachment said all are linked to South Korean charterers operating under special-purpose vehicle (SPV) corporate names.
In the case of Opec Galaxy, the charterer is listed as Seoul-based Seastar Maritime.
On the owners' side, Brave Worth is in the fleet of Chinese owner WS Shipping while Chem Trader belongs to China's Global Marine Ship Management and Opec Galaxy to Petrovietnam. State-owned Petrovietnam owns a large fleet mostly of small tankers and gas carriers.
Reference sources credit little-known WS Shipping with a mixed fleet of five ships, all aquired last year. Qingdao-based Global Marine Ship Management, also known as Huihai Ship Management, is an active sale-and-purchase player that currently owns seven small chemical tankers and a panamax bulkers.
Owners could not immediately be reached for comment.
A representative of the West of England Insurance Services said the club was not aware of the allegations but would investigate with the members concerned, and had no further comment for the time being.
