T

housands of local fishermen are demanding compensation after a ship spilled oil into the waters near Cilacap, Central Java.

More than 500 meters of Cilicap’s coast were contaminated by an oil leak from fuel tanker MT Alisa XVII on Sunday.

The fishermen demanded Rp 10 billion (US$1.2 million) in compensation, while the Jakarta-based vessel owner offered Rp 100 million.

The fishermen stopped the vessel from unloading 20,000 kiloliters of diesel fuel intended for customers in Surabaya, East Java, including the Paiton power station.

“We are making an effort to reach a deal with the Cilacap chapter of the Indonesian Fishermen’s Association on the amount of compensation for the oil spill,” Cilacap Water Police unit chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Sugeng Hartono told reporters on Wednesday.

Sugeng said the fishermen had vowed not to allow the vessel to leave Cilacap before the compensation issue was resolved.

“There is still big disparity between the compensation demanded by the fishermen and offered by the vessel owner. The fishermen demanded Rp 10 billion, but the vessel owner was only willing to pay Rp 100 million,” Sugeng said.

Police had questioned four fishing boat sailors about the spill, including a fishing boat captain, who alleged that the spill was due to negligence on the part of the vessel, he said.

“The incident has caused severe sea pollution,” Sugeng said.

According to the police investigation, the oil spill took place when tanker was loading diesel fuel at the Cilacap Pertamina Port, Sugeng said.

“According to the skipper, during loading process, one of the filling taps malfunctioned and spilled fuel on the deck that later flowed into the sea,” Sugeng told The Jakarta Post.

An alarm sounded when the tap jammed, but an oil spill was inevitable, he said.

“According to the [MT Alisa XVII’s] captain, only 300 kiloliters of fuel were spilled. But the fishermen did not buy it because they said the oil spill had spread to the coast,” Sugeng said.

The fishermen claimed they had been greatly affected by the incident.

“We have not set out to sea for three days. Prawns and fish have died. We have been busy cleaning the oil spill and our boats have been stained by oil,” Dirsun, a fisherman, said.

Cilacap Pertamina spokesman Kurdi Susanto said the oil spill was error on the part of the tanker, declining to elaborate further.

“As of Tuesday, we were able to clear the oil spill,” Kurdi added.