Indonesian Navy Denies Receiving Payments to Release Ships Held Near Singapore

jpnn.com, JAKARTA - About 30 ships have been detained by the Indonesian navy in the last three months, with the majority allegedly being released after shipowners making payments of US$250,000 to US$300,000, according to maritime security sources and shipowners as quoted by Reuters.

The payments were reportedly made either in cash to naval officers or via bank transfer to intermediaries that claimed to represent the navy. However, Reuters was not able to independently confirm the information, while a naval officer denied the payment channels.

"It is not true that the Indonesian navy received or asked for payment to release the ships," Rear Admiral Arsyad Abdullah, an Indonesian naval fleet commander, told Reuters in a written response.

However, Abdullah acknowledged that in the past three months, there had been an increasing number of detentions of ships for anchoring without permission in Indonesian waters, deviating from the sailing route, or stopping mid-course for an unreasonable amount of time. 

Abdullah also denied any ship crew members had been detained.

"During the legal process, all crew of the ships were on board their ships, except for questioning at the naval base. After the questioning, they were sent back to the ships," he said.

The detentions and payments were first reported by Lloyd's List Intelligence, an industry website. (reuters/mcr20/jpnn)