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MV Ever Judger captain faces 10 years in Balikpapan oil spill case
Prosecutors have charged the captain of a vessel under Law No. 32/2009 on environmental protection following a major oil spill that killed five.
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A mangrove forest is contaminated by oil in Kariangau village, Balikpapan Bay, East Kalimantan, on April 5, 2018. An oil spill off Balikpapan Bay, Borneo Island, that led to five deaths and the declaration of a state of emergency was caused by a burst undersea pipe belonging to state oil company Pertamina. (Courtesy of Greenpeace/Jurnasyanto Sukarno)
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team of public prosecutors at the Balikpapan District Court has demanded a 10-year prison sentence for the 50-year-old captain of the MV Ever Judger vessel, Zhang Deyi, and a Rp 15 billion fine (US$1.07 million). Zhang is being accused of causing an oil pipe leakage that led to the death of five people.
“It is because [he] caused the death of five locals as a result of an oil spill and environmental degradation, damaging mangrove forests while causing [state oil and gas firm] Pertamina to record losses,” prosecutor Rahmi said at a hearing on Monday afternoon at the court.
The prosecutors charged him under Law No. 32/2009 on environmental protection.
The next hearing, slated next Monday, will be a defense from Zhang. The previous hearings presented 28 witnesses and nine expert witnesses.
On March 31 last year, the vessel’s anchor got stuck on an undersea oil pipe in the Balikpapan Bay. The pipe later broke off because the anchor pulled it, the indictment said.
The oil spill caused a fire that killed five Balikpapan residents: Agus Salim, 42, Wahyu Gusti Anggoro, 27, Imam Nur Rohim, 42, Suyono, 55 and Sutoyo, 42. All five were fishermen.
