Batam’s district court has sentenced an Indonesian captain of a Singapore-owned vessel to seven years in jail for transporting containers of hazardous and toxic liquid waste into Indonesia, in breach of both environment and shipping laws.
On June 13, 2021, Batam Port Authority’s patrol team was tipped off on the vessel SB Cramoil Equity entering waters off Batam. Two days later, the team discovered 20 intermediate bulk containers of hazardous and toxic liquid waste on board in Batu Ampar waters.
Each container can hold about 1,000 litres of content. The verdict was passed on June 15 this year but was only disclosed by the Indonesian government on 22 July.
The vessel’s captain was sentenced with a seven-year jail term and a five-billion rupiah (S$463,000) fine. If he does not pay the fine, he will serve another three months in jail, as well as eight months in jail and a 50 million rupiah fine.
