Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) is auctioning a confiscated Iranian-flagged tanker along with a cargo of Light Crude Oil. Quoted from the Auction site, this is the second auction scheduled after the previous auction in December 2025. The ship auction will close on January 30 2026.
In this second auction, the State Assets and Auction Services Office (KPNKL), which is under the Directorate General of State Assets, Ministry of Finance, stated the value of the ship at IDR 1.17 trillion and the security deposit at IDR 118 billion.
It is known that this ship is named MT Arman 114 (300,579 dwt). This Iranian-flagged ship still has 167 thousand metric tons or 1.25 million barrels of crude oil on board.
The MT Arman 114 ship was detained by the Indonesian side in Batu Ampar waters, Batu Merah Village, Batu Ampar District, Batam City, Riau Islands Province. Quoted from Maritime Executive, although the ship is registered in Iran, its ownership is unclear.
The court in Batam rejected several claims on behalf of a Panama-registered company that claimed to own the ship. Iran has denied any involvement or ownership of the oil since the ship was seized following the July 2023 incident.
The ship was ordered to be sold by a court after its captain, an Egyptian citizen, was found guilty in absentia of pollution charges. An Indonesian patrol boat has discovered the Arman 114 in the midst of an illegal oil transfer between ships in July 2023.
The ships hastily attempted to cover their tracks upon discovery and raised anchor in an attempt to escape. Arman 114 was stopped by Malaysian authorities and returned to Indonesia.
Captain Arman 114 was put on trial, but fled the country a few days before the verdict. He was sentenced to seven years in prison and a fine of approximately US$ 300,000 (or an additional six months in prison) in absentia. The court also ordered the confiscation of the tanker and its cargo.
This is not the first time the ship has had problems globally. Built in 1997, the ship was operating as Grace 1 when it was seized by British commandos in July 2019 off the coast of Gibraltar. The ship was carrying a cargo of Iranian oil that Britain said was destined for Syria. This clearly violates European Union and US sanctions. Iran retaliated by seizing the tanker Stena Impero.
A Gibraltar court freed the ship in August 2019, saying that Iran had committed not to send the oil to Syria.
The ship was renamed Adrian Darya 1 under the Iranian flag and, in 2020, again renamed Arman 114. The ship has been subject to US sanctions since 2019.
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Photo: An Iranian-flagged MT Arman 114 ship is included in the auction list from the Directorate General of State Assets. (Indonesian Auction Screenshot)
An Iranian-flagged MT Arman 114 ship has been included in the auction list from the Directorate General of State Assets. (Indonesian Auction Screenshot)
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