Govt demands Natuna Sea tanker owner to pay $10 million in compensation
Monday, October 23 2000 - 04:00 AM WIB
The Indonesian government has demanded owners of Natuna Sea tanker that ran aground and spilled crude oil in waters off Batam island to pay a compensation totaling US$10 million.
Batam regent Muhammed Nazief Soesilo Dharma told a Singapore daily that the money would be given to fishermen and other people whose lives were affected by the oil spill.
"We also demanded a compensation for the environmental destruction caused by the accident," he said.
Natuna Sea tanker ran aground in Malaka Straits on Oct. 3, about seven kilometers off Sentosa island, Singapore, and spilled about 7,000 tons of crude oil to Indonesian waters, off Batam island.
The oil spill also polluted Singapore and Malaysian waters.
The Singapore Maritime Port Authority (MPA) explained that its party was still processing the compensation demand from Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysian authorities.
MPA projected that the compensation Natuna Sea owners had to pay may amount to S$50 million (US$29 million).
The Batam regent said earlier that accident that caused the oil spill was caused by human error, but owners of Natuna Sea argued that it was too early to speculate on the cause of the accident. (*)