'Hijackers' of passenger ship set free in Ujungpandang

UJUNGPANDANG, South Sulawesi (JP): A group of hijackers were let off lightly, following their hijacking of the Bukit Siguntang passenger ship on Wednesday morning.

The incident occurred when the ship, which was carrying 900 passengers, left Ambon's Yos Sudarso Harbor for Ujungpandang.

The hijackers, believed to number over 100 people, began their takeover about 30 minutes after the ship left the harbor.

They forced their way to the bridge and held the ship's captain, FA Harahap, hostage.

Following the at times perplexing orders of the hijackers, the ship turned back twice -- once near Ambon and once near Bau-bau Harbor in Buton -- but subsequently resumed its course.

Security officers on board were unable to defend the ship against the hijacker's substantial presence.

A ship security officer on board, who requested anonymity, said the hijackers controlled the bridge for most of the trip, and threatened to burn the ship if they encountered resistance.

The hijackers spent most of their time on board the vessel checking the passengers' identity documents. They also ransacked the belongings of several travelers.

Most of the travelers were refugees fleeing the ethnic and religious strife which has hit Ambon this year.

Despite the seriousness of the incident, once the ship berthed in Ujungpandang, the hijackers were not detained.

PT Pelni's head of operations in Ujungpandang, Agus Harry P., confirmed the incident. He said a group of people involved in the ethnic clashes in Ambon hijacked the ship for several hours.

"Yes it was a bit like a hijacking, because apart from looting passengers' belongings they also took control of the ship," he told The Jakarta Post here on Wednesday.

Agus acknowledged that authorities released the hijackers, saying they wished to prevent an "unwanted incident" from occurring.

"When we received information about the incident we immediately contacted the police and TNI (the Indonesian Military). However, after some deliberations we decided to just let them go," he said.

Spiraling violence in the area has led state-owned PT Pelni to consider the temporary suspension of all services to and from Ambon, Maluku.

Agus claimed that there were three to six suspicious deaths of passengers taking the Ambon-Ujungpandang route each time the ship set sail.

He added that the owners of the Bukit Siguntang vessel had submitted a request to suspend their operations. Another ship, Lambelu, stopped plying the route last month. (27/02)