Maritime court to settle Cilacap pollution

CILACAP, Central Java (JP): The local government is considering filing a lawsuit in the Maritime Court or International Maritime Court against a Singaporean company for financial and environmental losses resulting from an oil spill.

State oil company Pertamina spokesman Husni Banser said on Tuesday that the local government had set up a special team to prepare the lawsuit.

"The team was formed to thoroughly investigate the case, because many parties have blamed Pertamina for it," Husni said.

An estimated 4,000 barrels of crude oil was spilled into the sea after the MT Fisher fuel tanker -- carrying 600,000 barrels of crude oil -- hit a reef on April 1.

The accident took place at about 3:05 p.m, shortly before the tanker arrived at the Pertamina-owned Cilacap oil refinery from Tanjung Santan in East Kalimantan.

Husni said the team was also tasked to assess the loss and the impact of the oil spill on the local environment.

"We expect to completely calculate the total loss within a week," Husni said, adding that the accident cost the state company US$100,000, based on the current crude oil price of $25 per barrel.

Husni said that some 6,000 local fishermen had already been deployed and they were paid Rp 30,000 a day to clean up the spill.

Thousands of fishermen have also demanded that Pertamina pay Rp 630,000 each in compensation for halting their activities for an estimated three months.

Fishermen who fish in the Cilacap waters said they had not caught a single fish over the past two weeks as the spill had not yet been properly handled. (45/byg)