Navy apprehends overloaded barge

Navy patrol ship KRI Kakap-811 has apprehended a tugboat Putra Taliabu and a barge Nelly 22 for carrying 5,000 cubic meters of white teak wood without the proper documentation, a Navy official said on Saturday.

The tugboat and the barge were apprehended -- along with their cargo, captain and crew of 11 -- in Sulawesi waters, near Selayar Strait in South Sulawesi, on Thursday evening and were then taken to the Navy port in Makassar. The case will be submitted to the South Sulawesi Forestry Office for further investigation.

According to the commander of KRI Kakap-811 Maj. Yayan Sofiyan the tugboat and the barge were apprehended during a routine patrol.

"We have inspected the cargo and it appears that the actual volume of timber is not as mentioned in the document," Yayan said.

In the document, it is listed the barge carried 2,450 cubic meters of white teak wood but a preliminary examination found it was transporting 5,000 cubic meters of the wood. Moreover, he said, much of the timber did not bear the forestry office stamp, raising suspicions that it was illegally logged.

Meanwhile, the tugboat's captain, Muhammad Djulaidi, said he had no idea the volume of wood was higher than stated in the document. "I didn't know there was a violation because I was only assigned to deliver the wood," he said.

He said the wood belonged to PT Nelly Jaya Pratama, which is based in the South Sulawesi town of Palopo, and was purchased in Berau, East Kalimantan. (JP/Andi Hajramurni)