The Indonesia police has seized the bulk carrier ‘Ever Judger’, as the authorities continue to conduct their investigation regarding the recent oil spill and fire in Balikpapan Bay, in which five fishermen who were at the scene, lost their lives.
Namely, the police proceeded to seize the ship as evidence for the recent oil spill that caused a fire in Indonesia, Makassar Strait, on 31st of March, local media reported.
As the East Kalimantan Police’s special crime investigation directorate head, Sr.Comr. Yustan Alpiani informed, the seizing of the ship was made under a Balikpapan District Court order.
In fact, the police asked the immigration office not to let the crewmembers of the ‘Ever Judger’ to leave Indonesia, as the investigation is underway.
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An initial investigation by the Indonesian navy suggests the Ever Judger’s anchor has caused the rupture of the pipe, as the bulker was the only ship in the area at the time of the spill and divers found a 500-metre-long gash torn into the seabed which seems like the vessel’s anchor, according to Rear-Admiral Harjo Susmoro, head of the navy’s oceanography and hydrography center, as quoted by local media. It is noted that vessels are prohibited from dropping anchor in these area with undersea pipes.
Despite these suggestions, the exact cause of the spill is yet to be officially determined. Regardless of the cause of the spill however, Indonesia’s Environment and Forestry Ministry announced that Pertamina’s infrastructure inspection regime and spill-prevention were insufficient.