Navy foils shipping of illegal fuel

Denpasar: The Indonesian Navy has seized a ship transporting allegedly illegal fuel into Bali waters.

The ship, belonging to PT Sembilan Pilar, was carrying 84 kiloliters of diesel to be sold on the black market, according to Col.I Wayan Suarjaya, the Commander of the Benoa Naval Base who spoke to Bali Daily on Tuesday.

“Our patrol ship, KRI Welling, was monitoring Bali waters when the ship entered the area on Sunday morning at 1 a.m.,” the commander explained.

The ship’s crew was unable to show the necessary documents to transport fuels, Suarjaya added.

The seven crew members are being detained in Benoa for further investigation.

Previously, the Bali Police confiscated 113.9 tons of diesel, premium and marine fuel oil (MFO) being hoarded by people in the face of the government’s plan to raise fuel prices.

Hoarding of subsidized fuel occurred in several cities in Bali, including Denpasar, Singaraja and Tabanan.