Tahan Awak Kapal, Operator Kapal Strovolos Protes Indonesia
Oil Tanker Operator Protests Indonesia´s Detention of Crew
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
OPERATOR kapal tanker minyak yang diamankan oleh TNI Angkatan Laut [AL] atas permintaan pemerintah Kamboja, memprotes penahanan para awak kapal, sebagai pelanggaran hak asasi manusia.
World Tankers Management, Operator kapal MT Strovolos, mengeluarkan pernyataan bahwa para awak kapal, yang telah ditahan oleh Kepolisian Indonesia untuk diinterogasi sejak Jumat, tidak bersalah atas kesalahan apa pun.
Kapal tanker MT Strovolos berbendera Bahama, yang perkirakan membawa hampir 300.000 barel minyak mentah hasil curian dari perusahaan minyak Kamboja ditangkap TNI AL atas permintaan Kamboja pada bulan Juli lalu.
"Dipahami bahwa tindakan polisi ini mengikuti intervensi oleh pemerintah Kamboja yang mengklaim kargo itu diangkut secara ilegal," kata World Tankers Management dalam sebuah pernyataan.
"Klaim ini dibuat tanpa dasar dan ditolak sama sekali. Para awak tetap ditahan dan diinterogasi di darat secara bergiliran. Para awak adalah korban yang tidak bersalah dari tindakan salah oleh pemerintah Kamboja yang melanggar hak asasi mereka," katanya. .
World Tanker mengatakan pihak Kamboja tidak memberikan bukti apa pun untuk mendukung klaimnya bahwa mereka memiliki minyak di atas kapal, dan meminta pemerintah Indonesia untuk memerintahkan pembebasan segera para awak.
Kabid Humas Polda Kepri, Kombes Harry Goldenhardt mengatakan, para awak kapal sedang diinterogasi sehubungan dengan tuduhan pemerintah Kamboja, polisi juga telah menyita kapal tanker dan minyak mentah sebagai barang bukti, pada Senin, [27/8].
Pekan lalu, pengadilan menghukum kapten kapal tanker, seorang warga negara Bangladesh, 15 hari penjara dan denda 100 juta rupiah [$7.000] setelah memutuskan dia bersalah karena menambatkan kapal tanker di wilayah Indonesia tanpa izin.
Sebagai Informasi, kapal tanker tersebut disewa oleh KrisEnergy [Apsara] Co. Ltd. dan menerima minyak dari Lapangan Minyak Apsara di Teluk Thailand. Pemerintah Kamboja telah mengontrak KrisEnergy sebagai bagian dari proyek pengembangan minyak komersial dan memberikannya hak untuk menjual minyak dengan membayar royalti, seperti dikutip Associated Press yang dilansir MailOnline.
Namun, Grup KrisEnergy mengalami kesulitan keuangan dan tidak dapat memenuhi kewajibannya selama sewa, termasuk pembayaran pasokan bahan bakar kapal, kata World Tankers Management. KrisEnergy dan manajemen kapal tanker menghentikan piagam sebagai akibatnya, katanya.
THE OPERATOR of an oil tanker seized by Indonesian authorities at the request of Cambodia is protesting the detention of its crew, calling it a human rights violation.
World Tankers Management, the Singapore-based operator of the MT Strovolos, said the crew members, who have been detained by Indonesian Marine Police for questioning since Friday, are innocent of any wrongdoing.
Indonesia´s navy seized the tanker in late July at the request of Cambodia, which said it was wanted on suspicion of stealing nearly 300,000 barrels of crude oil.
Harry Goldenhardt, a police spokesperson in Indonesia´s Riau Islands province, said Tuesday the crew is being questioned in relation to the Cambodian government's accusation. Police have seized the tanker and the crude oil as evidence, he said.
"It is understood this police action followed an intervention by the Cambodian government which claims the cargo was transported illegally," World Tankers Management said in a statement.
"This claim is made without foundation and is utterly rejected. The crew members remain under detention and are being interrogated ashore in shifts. The crew are the innocent victims of wrongful conduct by the government of Cambodia in violation of their human rights," it said.
It said Cambodia had not provided any proof to support its claim that it owns the oil on board the vessel, and asked the Indonesian government to order the crew's immediate release.
Last week, a court sentenced the captain of the tanker, a Bangladesh national, to 15 days in jail and fined him 100 million rupiah ($7,000) after finding him guilty of anchoring the tanker in Indonesian territory without permission.
The tanker was chartered by KrisEnergy (Apsara) Co. Ltd. and received the oil from the Apsara Oil Field in the Gulf of Thailand. The Cambodian government had contracted KrisEnergy as part of a commercial oil development project and gave it the right to sell the oil subject to payment of royalties.
However, the KrisEnergy Group ran into financial difficulties and was unable to comply with its obligations during the charter, including payment of the ship's fuel supply, World Tankers Management said. KrisEnergy and the tanker's management terminated the charter as a result, it said.
