Fishermen in Cilacap wants MT HCC ship wreckage be recovered soon

Fishermen in Cilacap, Central Java, have given a deadline until the end of this month to the owners of the sunk MT HCC vessel to recover the wreckage so that it would not cause any problems for fishermen and also for crude oil tanker plying the Cilacap route.

The fishermen argued that if the wreckage was not recovered, it would hamper their activities, especially in September, a month considered to be a fish harvest for Cilacap fishermen.

The chairman of the Association of Indonesian Fishermen's Cilacap branch, Atas Munandar, said on Thursday that his party had received complaints from a number of fishermen that the wreckage could hamper fishing activities in the area and therefore the fishermen wanted its owners to recover the wreckage.

Djaelani, who represents owners of sunk MT HCC vessel, said that his party was ready to recover the wreckage. He said he could ask a third party to recover the wreckage and own them and use them as scrap irons.

"At least 40 days since the accident, the wreckage of the HCC vessel hopefully would be recovered, " he said.

Djaelani also said that his party was ready to compensate any party that suffered losses because of the sinking of the tanker.

MT HHC vessel chartered by state oil and gas firm Pertamina to carry 1,000 tons of liquefied asphalt from its Cilacap oil refinery to Pare-Pare, South Sulawesi, sank off Cilacap port in Central Java.

The vessel, with 11 crews, sank east of the notorious Nusakambangan island, around seven miles away from Cilacap shores, and only several dozen meters away from Pertamina's floating port in Cilacap.

According to the Cilacap port's administrator, Sahud Sihombing, the cause of the accident was the leakage in the vessel's engine room. Ship captain Hendrik Takumansang was surprised knowing that water had filled the engine room and ordered his crew to save themselves as the vessel was not anymore stable. (*)