The sanctioned VLCC Young Yong has been refloated off Indonesia after the US allowed certain salvage operations to take place.
The laden 306,300-dwt Young Yong (built 2001) got stuck off the Riau Islands on 26 October, near a gas pipeline to Singapore.
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control then listed the tanker among 11 others that it accused of having links to the Iranian regime and its allies Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The vessel was being towed to an anchorage area in Nipah after it was moved off the bottom on Thursday, according to the commander of Indonesia’s First Fleet, Arsyad Abdullah.
Other tugs were leaving the scene, AIS data shows.
The vessel is listed as having “restricted manoeuvrability”, after changing its status from “aground”.
The US allowed some “transactions” necessary to dock and anchor the Young Yong safely, and to make repairs and protect the environment, Reuters reported.
The vessel is said to be carrying 284,000 tonnes of crude, according to the transport ministry’s Indonesian Sea and Coast Guard.
The NGO United Against Nuclear Iran and TankerTrackers.com are now reporting that it was transporting Venezuelan fuel oil supplied to Iran.
The Young Yong had been heading to Nipah, a ship-to-ship transfer hub, before the grounding.
Class withdrawn
The vessel is flagged in Djibouti and controlled by Hong Kong-based East Wind Ship Management.
The American Bureau of Shipping withdrew its classification services after the VLCC was sanctioned.
The refloating came two days after the Indonesian Navy estimated it could take up to a month to free.
The operation required extra care because of its proximity to the pipeline.
It was thought some of the oil cargo would have to be removed to lighten the ship.
