The risk of casualties from the growing so-called dark fleet has manifested in Southeast Asia again where an aframax tanker caught fire in Malaysian waters with three crewmembers missing.
The 1997-built Pablo, a ship which has changed hands three times in the last couple of years, issued a distress call yesterday afternoon after a blaze was detected. Malaysian authorities were able to rescue 25 of the 28 crew.
, a ship which has changed hands three times in the last couple of years, issued a distress call yesterday afternoon after a blaze was detected. Malaysian authorities were able to rescue 25 of the 28 crew.The ship, registered in Gabon, a popular flag of choice for sanctions-busting companies, is listed as being owned by Marshall Islands-based Pablo Union Shipping, a single ship shell company.
The ship was in ballast from China to the United Arab Emirates when the blaze broke out.
Analysis from TankerTrackers.com shows the vessel, whose recent previous owners hail from India and the UAE, has a history of shifting Iranian crude.
Southeast Asia, a major crossroads for the tanker trades, sees many shadow tankers passing through its busy waters. In October last year the Djibouti-registered Young Yong ran aground off the Riau Islands in Indonesia, a ship which had been sanctioned by the US for its alleged links to Iran.
The growing use of the dark fleet, whose numbers are thought to top 600 ships, is resulting in accidents around the world.
With Russia joining Iran and Venezuela in seeking vintage tonnage to shift cargoes as sanctions rain in, and major class societies, managers, and insurers shunning former clients in Moscow, there is a growing risk of substandard tonnage running into trouble.
Highly respected shipping writer Michael Grey told Splash earlier: “The tanker sector has worked so hard, and for so long, to become the Rolls-Royce of the shipping industry, and now the dark fleet and the sort of people it will inevitably attract are risking so much of this reputation.”
