The Indonesian Navy is trying to free the Young Yong, a Djibouti-registered ship, which ran aground off the Riau Islands in Indonesia on October 26 near a gas pipeline.
Last week, the United States imposed sanctions on an international oil smuggling ring it claims supports Hezbollah and the Iranian elite Quds Force, targeting dozens of people, companies and oil tankers, Washington trying to pressure Thran. Young Yong was among the sanctioned ships.
But the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has since cleared some transactions necessary to moor and anchor the Young Yong safely and to maintain crew safety, the embassy spokesman said.
OFAC also authorized emergency repairs to the ship and measures taken to protect the environment, the spokesperson added.
Capable of carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil, the failed tanker is nearly full, according to navigation data on Refinitiv Eikon. No injuries or losses were reported.
“Right now, the top priority (of the US government) is to minimize the environmental and energy impact of this accident,” the spokesperson said.
“However, OFAC did not allow the unloading of the cargo.”
Indonesian authorities told Reuters on Monday that it could take up to a month to free the ship that ran aground in the Singapore Strait near a major pipeline that supplies natural gas to Singapore.
The tanker usually loads crude oil bound for China from a floating deposit in the Singapore-Malaysia Strait.
The ship is owned by Technology Bright International Co Ltd and operated by East Wind Ship Management Ltd. The companies could not be reached for comment.
