Navy apprehends overloaded barge

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)