Malaysia, the tanker Pablo on fire
A tanker carrying cargo of Iranian oil has caught fire off the coast of Malaysia. The crew of the tanker Pablo, assembled in 1997, issued a distress message yesterday afternoon after a fire broke out on board the vessel. The vessel, which has changed ownership 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 owns that individual vessel. South-East Asia is a busy hub for “shadow oil tankers”: last October the Young Yong, a ship flying the flag of Djibouti and sanctioned by the US precisely for the transport of Iranian oil, ran aground off the Riau Islands in Indonesia.