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Pertamina sends legal notice to MV Ever Judger over oil spill
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A police officer cleans up oil at Banua Patra Beach in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, on April 2 following a major oil spill in the bay. (Antara/Sheravim)
S
tate-owned energy company Pertamina has sent a legal notice (somasi) to Holding Company Limited, British Virgin Islands, owner of the MV Ever Judger, which Pertamina alleges caused the damage to its oil pipeline in Balikpapan Bay, East Kalimantan.
Pertamina has appointed law firm Otto Hasibuan & Associates to handle the legal issue of the accident that caused the oil spill in the bay.
Lawyer Otto Hasibuan said that based on the report by PT. Dewi Rahmi (Derra Diving), which was supported by information from the Navy’s Hydrography and Oceanography Center (Pushidrosal), the oil pipeline damage was caused by the anchor of the Ever Judger.
“It was not a leak, the pipe was broken. So please check it. It is not Pertamina’s fault and the people behind the accident should receive sanctions,” Otto said as reported by kontan.com on Thursday.
Pertamina accused the ship of passing through a prohibited area and dropping its anchor, which hit the Pertamina oil pipeline.
Otto said Pertamina sought compensation for the losses caused by the spill of 40,000 barrels of oil per day into Balikpapan Bay, payment for victims and the cost of cleaning up the environmental damage caused by the oil spill.
With the legal notice, Otto said, Pertamina hoped that relevant parties would discuss an out-of-court solution. “If they don’t want to pay compensation, we will take them to court,” Otto said, adding that Pertamina was still calculating the total losses caused by the incident. (bbn)
