Malaysia, the tanker Pablo on fire
A tanker carrying Iranian oil caught fire off the coast of Malaysia. The crew of the 1997 assembled tanker Pablo issued a distress call yesterday afternoon after a fire broke out on board the ship. The ship, which has changed hands several times in recent years, is registered in Gabon, a flag often chosen by shipping companies suspected of circumventing international sanctions.
The vessel is owned by Marshall Islands-based Pablo Union Shipping, which also owns this single vessel. Southeast Asia is a busy hub for “shadow oil tankers”: Last October, the Young Yong, a Djibouti-flagged vessel just sanctioned by the US for transporting Iranian oil, ran aground off the Riau Islands in Indonesia.