On April 24, police officials seized a cargo vessel during an investigation involving a fire caused by a pipeline burst.
What happened?
The Panamanian flagged cargo vessel ‘MV Ever Judger 2’ was taken into custody as evidence following an investigation into a fatal fire reportedly caused by a burst undersea pipeline belonging to state oil and gas Pertamina in Balikpapan Bay, East Kalimantan on March 31, 2018.
On March 29, the vessel entered the Balikpapan Bay waters to pick up coal in northern Balikpapan Bay. The vessel is suspected to have caused a pipeline burst which resulted in a massive oil spill and fire killing the life of five fishermen while extensively polluting the Bay.
Crew members banned from leaving
Currently the vessel is tied up to a dock in Semayang Port waters and its crew members were banned inside Indonesia until the investigation is completed.
Senior Commander Yustan Alpiani said, “The confiscation is in line with a Balikpapan District Court order and four personnel were deployed to guard the vessel on Tuesday evening. We have asked the immigration office to ban MV Ever Judger crew members from leaving Indonesia for investigation purposes. They are among 54 people the police have questioned as witnesses”.
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Source: The Jakarta Post
