T

he Indonesian Navy (TNI AL) stated on Tuesday that it did not find toxic waste inside a cargo ship recently stranded near Riau Islands.

The Navy said scientists deployed by the government to test whether the load inside the tanker, the MV Ocean Carrier, was uranium waste, had declared it was not.

'€œWe have checked the cargo and interrogated the crew members. We have also opened one of the ship'€™s hatches to check its content,'€ TNI AL spokesperson Commodore Muhammad Zainuddin said.

The ship'€™s hatch contained iron ore, in accordance with its manifest.

'€œAnother sign is that the ship'€™s crew members were not wearing special radioactive waste-handling attire,'€ Zainuddin said.

The cargo ship, flying the flag of Hong Kong, last week found itself stranded in waters near Riau before being assisted by the Navy'€™s Western Fleet (Armabar) and towed to nearby Sambu Island.

According to the ship manifest, the MV Ocean Carrier was transporting iron ore and was headed to Yang Jian, China, from Fujairah, Iran.

The cargo ship got stranded after trying to avoid the busy traffic between Indonesia and Singapore. Riau'€™s waters are part of Malacca Strait, a busy maritime route for ships, cargo vessels and tankers.

The MV Ocean Carrier suffered no serious damage when two warships, the KRI Surik and the KRI Siwar, arrived to start the rescue effort. It was reported that 22 crew members were onboard during the incident, and no casualties were reported.

However, information leaked to the public suggested that the ship was transporting uranium waste from Iran when it got stranded.

Head of the maritime security office for the western maritime zone Comr. Agung said that the cargo was now at Sambu Island port for further investigation.

'€œWe confirmed that the information was not true. We have checked and found no uranium material, [...] only iron ore,'€ Agung said.

He also said that the Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency (Bapeten), the sea security agency (bakamla) and related institutions had worked hand in hand on the investigation so far.

Agung asserted that if the cargo had been or contained uranium waste, it would have meant a serious problem in the area.

'€œ[Uranium waste] is very dangerous for the security and safety of the waters of Riau Islands,'€ Agung added.

In December, Iran sent its first shipment of low-enriched uranium material to Russia, a key step in Tehran'€™s implementation of an historic nuclear accord with world powers.

According to ISNA news agency, Iran sent 8.5 tons of low-enriched nuclear material to Russia and received about 140 tons of natural uranium in return.

Another cargo ship, identified as Red Rock, was caught in West Nusa Tenggara waters last month, suspected of carrying toxic waste from a mining company operating in Sumbawa Island.

There has yet to be any confirmation of those allegations.