Firm complains of ship seizure

BATAM, Riau Islands: A shipping company complained on Wednesday that it lost US$2,000 a day after their ships were apprehended on Sunday for carrying 94 containers containing allegedly illegal timber.

"If there is nothing wrong with the ship manifest, please release the ships immediately," said Iin Wijaya, an executive with PT Jasatama Kemasindo that contracted the ships to transport processed timber between Pekanbaru, Riau, and Singapore.

The company was transporting timber belonging to nine companies, including a cooperative of the Wirabima Resort Military Command based in Pekanbaru, Riau.

However, on Sunday the two ships hired by the company were intercepted by police on charges that the ship's manifest didn't match with the actual amount of timber inside the containers.

Separately, chief of Riau Islands police detectives Adj. Sr. Comr. Wawan Iriawan said the police intercepted the ships after receiving information that the ship manifest did not match the container contents. He said the police needed four days to check whether the ship manifest was valid. -- JP