Cambodia charges tanker crew with 'theft' of crude oil

Government demands extradition from Indonesia where ship has been seized

PHNOM PENH -- Cambodia has asked Indonesia to extradite the crew of a tanker who it accuses of stealing $21 million worth of crude pumped from the country's first commercialized oil field. The ship's manager said earlier this week that the vessel's captain acted to protect the crew's welfare after the company that chartered the tanker failed to resupply it and terminated the charter agreement.

In a statement on Thursday, Cambodia's Ministry of Mines and Energy said "various" criminal charges have been laid in Cambodia against the crew of the Strovolos, including stealing the ship's cargo. "The theft and/or misappropriation of the crude oil by the owners, managers and the crew of the MT Strovolos, and their accomplices constitute criminal acts pursuant to the relevant Cambodian laws."

The Bahamas-flagged tanker was chartered by Singapore-traded KrisEnergy to store crude extracted from Cambodia's Block A concession, which KrisEnergy operated. When production began last December, the public-private venture that operated the field became the mainland Southeast Asian country's first commercial oil concern.

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