Shoddy paperwork, two ships seized

JAKARTA: The Tanjung Priok port's Customs and Excise unit seized two ships late last week after reviewing their incomplete paperwork.

Director General of Customs and Excise Anwar Suprijadi said Tuesday the government had caught a tugboat, TB Sumber Power XII, towing a larger ship, the New Orleans, in Indonesia's territorial waters near Beting Raja Island on Thursday night.

"Our officials found the ships did not have completed administrative documents," said Anwar, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

He said Customs had detained two captains and two deck officers, but had yet to arrest the owners of the ships.

Kushari Supriyanto from Tanjung Priok's customs unit said the perpetrators had told them the ships were destined to be cut into smaller pieces and melted down in Kalibaru, also in North Jakarta.

The smuggling represented a loss for the country of about Rp 18 billion (US$1,8 million), he said.

The suspected perpetrators could be charged with up to 10 years in prison and between Rp 5 million and Rp 5 billion in fines. --JP