Maldiva-flagged tanker seized for trying to smuggle diesel oil
Thursday, November 2 2000 - 05:00 AM WIB
The marine force seized on Monday night an oil tanker carrying a Maldivan flag for trying to smuggle diesel oil from Indonesia, Kompas daily reported on Thursday.
MT Asian King tanker operated by local company PT Pelayaran Bintang Timur was seized in a special operation when the tanker was loading the diesel oil in Tanjung Priok water, the marine said in a statement.
The seizure of the tanker, with a dead weight capacity of 1,320 tons, was witnessed by Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro and the commander of marine for western area Admiral Si Putu Ardana.
In the press statement, the marine force said that the tanker was seized because it carried improper documents both for the shipment of fuel products or for its operation in Indonesian water.
The tanker, which was designed to transport palm oil, was trying to illegally export the diesel oil to Singapore and Maldives.
The low price of the heavily diesel oil in the domestic has encouraged smuggling activities. The fuel is mostly smuggled to Singapore and other neighboring countries. (*)