Foreign ship caught in illegal activities

Foreign ship caught in illegal activities

AMBON, Maluku: Navy patrol vessel KRI Samadikun has caught a tanker, flying the Indonesian flag, selling diesel fuel to fishing boats in the Arafura Sea in Southeast Maluku, Commander of the Marine Security Task Force of the Eastern Fleet, Vice Admiral Young Mardinal, said.

"The tanker, Seoul 88, had been operating in the Aru Sea since October 6. It was caught by KRI Samadikun on October 25 during an annual marine security operation," Mardinal said in Ambon, Maluku on Thursday.

Antara said the foreign ship, now being handled by the Southeast Maluku Prosecution Office, was manned by a crew of 18.

Mardinal said that when apprehended, the crew of the tanker claimed the ship had a dead-weight of 1,167 GT.

However, an official of the state-owned oil company Pertamina in Southeast Maluku's capital of Tual put it at about 2,000 GT.

Pertamina's public relations officer in Ambon Sandra Samson said the oil company knew nothing about Seoul 88 because it had not chartered the vessel.

"Pertamina chartered only two ships to transport fuel oil, namely Salindo Patria 08 and Patria 68. We have never sold fuel oil to the tanker. Pertamina has found it difficult to control the sale of fuel at sea," Sandra said.

Meanwhile, Mardinal disclosed that, in addition to arresting the tanker, the Indonesian warship in its routine operations had also apprehended two fish transfer ships while unloading their catch at sea for export.

The two Taiwan-based ships, also flying Indonesian flags, were arrested in the Aru Sea. With a crew of 37, the 3,852.03-GT MF Fuji, along with the 368.56-GT MF Tay-I, crewed by 19, have been escorted to the Tual naval base for further investigation.