Indonesian Navy Arrests Panamanian-flagged Tanker In Batam Waters Carrying Black Oil Suspected To Be Waste

The Panamanian-flagged ship MT Zodiac STar was towed into the waters around Lanal Batam. (Naim/Between)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Navy has arrested a Panamanian-flagged tanker sailing in the waters of Tolop Island, Batam City, Road Islands, without any legal documents.

"TNI as a security force guarding Indonesian waters, we caught the MT Zodiac Star Motor Tanker carrying oil while carrying out patrols around Tolop Island", said Commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces I (Pangkoarmada I), Admiral TNI Arsyad Abdullah, while inspecting the Zodiak Star Ship in Batam waters, as reported by Antara, Wednesday, September 1st.

From the initial inspection, it was known that the ship with a weight of 3,224 GT was loaded with a black oil which was suspected to be around 4,600 tons of waste without any documents.

The tanker was not equipped with a Port Clearance to transport dangerous goods and special goods without giving notice. Officers on board can only show a few documents that have expired.

The MT Zodiac Star Ship is crewed by 19 people including the captain, 18 of whom are Indonesian citizens and one is Malaysian.

"Until now, an examination process has been carried out on the captain, witnesses, and experts to complete the examination report before being handed over to the prosecutor's office", said TNI Admiral Arsyad Abdullah.

For this violation, MT Zodiac Star was withdrawn to the Indonesian Navy Base (Lanal) Batam for further investigation.

The captain of MT Zodiac Star is suspected of sailing without an SPB in violation of Article 323 paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 219 paragraph (1) of Law no. 17 of 2008 concerning Shipping which is punishable by a maximum imprisonment of 5 (five) years and a maximum fine of IDR 600,000,000.

Then, to transport dangerous goods and special goods that do not submit a notification is suspected of violating Article 295 in conjunction with Article 47 of Law No. 17 of 2008 concerning Shipping as amended by Law No. 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation which can be subject to administrative sanctions.

In addition, the MT Zodiac Star Vessel was declared unseaworthy with 3 documents, namely "exemption certificate", "international oil pollution prevention certificate" and "interim exemption certificates" which had expired. This violates Article 302 (1) in conjunction with Article 117 paragraph (2) of the Shipping Law which is prosecuted with a maximum imprisonment of 3 years or a maximum fine of IDR 400,000,000.

Admiral TNI Arsyad Abdullah stated that his party was always present by carrying out patrols in the waters of the National Jurisdiction to maintain sovereignty and law enforcement.

"The arrest of the Panama-flagged MT Zodiac Star is a tangible manifestation of the implementation of the tasks of the First Coordination Command and the commitment of the Navy leadership", he said.

The Chief of Staff of the Navy, Admiral Yudo Margono, firmly stated that the Navy would not hesitate to take action against all forms of law violations that occurred in the waters of the Indonesian National Jurisdiction.