Overview
- The Indian Coast Guard intercepted MT Asphalt Star, MT Al Jafzia and MT Stellar Ruby on Feb 5–6 about 100 nautical miles west of Mumbai, then moved them to the city’s anchorage for legal action.
- An FIR lodged on Feb 15 at Yellow Gate police station names ship masters, officers and owner Jogwinder (Jogendar) Singh Brar; nine individuals are booked under shipping, customs, IT, petroleum and related laws.
- Mumbai police have arrested Asphalt Star master Shyam Bahadur Chauhan and another crew member, with a court remanding them to custody until Feb 23, officials said.
- Investigators cite unauthorized ship-to-ship transfers of 30 metric tonnes of heavy fuel oil to Al Jafzia and 5,473 metric tonnes of bitumen to Stellar Ruby, forged P&I certificates and port-entry papers, including a DG Shipping–confirmed fake P&I for Stellar Ruby.
- ECDIS/AIS data and seized phone messages indicate coordinated identity spoofing; Asphalt Star spent Jan 20–28 in Pakistan’s EEZ and went dark for about 11 hours on Jan 28; crew gave audio-video statements, the ships remain detained off Mumbai, and possible links to sanctioned Iranian oil are under probe with the owner denying wrongdoing.