The fuel was hidden in the hold of Motor Vessel Kawaranae-3, Commander of the Naval Base IV Commodore S Irawan stated at the Yos Sudarso pier in Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands province.
Irawan believed that the illegal fuel came from one of companies in Kabil in the industrialized island of Batam.
"The vessel should have transported passengers instead of carrying the illegal fuel. Therefore, we seized it," he added.
The owner of the motor vessel had modified the 265 GT vessel from a passenger motor vessel into a motor tanker to cheat naval personnel, he remarked.
If the vessel was to be used to transport fuel, it must secure a fuel transportation permit in the form of a class certificate from the Indonesian Classification Bureau (BKI), he pointed out.
Based on the results of the investigation, the crew members of the vessel admitted that the distribution of illegal fuel was conducted from one ship to another.
The location to distribute the illegal fuel from one ship to another would always change in order to hide the smuggling activity from naval personnel.
"MV Kawaranae-3 has long been the target of raid conducted by the WFQR team," he revealed.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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