Indonesia’s navy has seized a large tanker believed to be loaded with hundreds of tons of wasted black oil and has introduced the ship to shore for additional investigation
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia’s navy has seized a large tanker believed to be loaded with hundreds of tons of wasted black oil and has introduced the ship to shore for additional investigation, officers mentioned Thursday.
The Panamanian-flagged MT Zodiac Star was situated Wednesday after the navy acquired an intelligence tip a few suspicious tanker close to Tolop island and escorted it about 22 kilometers (13 miles) to a naval base in Batam on the Indonesian archipelago’s northwestern tip close to Singapore, mentioned Rear Admiral Arsyad Abdullah, the nation’s western fleet commander.
The three,224-ton tanker, with its crew of 18 Indonesians and a Malaysian, was suspected of conducting illicit practices after it was caught with about 4,600 tons of waste oil with out port clearance and different correct authorized paperwork, Abdullah mentioned in a press release.
He mentioned investigators are nonetheless consulting with consultants and questioning the tanker’s captain, crew members and witnesses earlier than the findings are handed over to the prosecutor’s workplace. The costs that might be introduced carry as much as 5 years in jail and fantastic of 600 million rupiahs ($42,000), Abdullah mentioned.
In late July, the Indonesian navy seized the Bahamas-flagged oil tanker MT Strovolos and arrested its captain and 18 crew after Cambodia accused the ship of stealing almost 300,000 barrels of crude oil.
An Iranian-flagged tanker and a Panamanian-flagged tanker had been seized in January on suspicion of illegally transferring oil in Indonesian waters. They had been launched after a four-month detention and paid 2 billion rupiah (almost $140,000) for spilling oil into the ocean, in keeping with a verdict from a court docket on Batam island.