The captain of a cargo ship, SB Cramoil Equity, was jailed in Indonesia for smuggling containers loaded with hazardous and toxic waste into the country in contravention of shipping laws and the environment.
The general cargo ship is owned by a Singapore-based waste collection firm named Cramoil Singapore.
A court located on the island of Batam in Indonesia heard that on 13 June last year, authorities of the Batam Port were tipped off to the arrival of the ship, SB Cramoil Equity, in the waters close to Batam and that the vessel was bringing toxic liquids into Batam.
The port authority’s patrol team boarded the cargo ship and discovered 20 containers loaded with toxic liquid wastes. Each box can hold nearly 1,000 liters of toxic waste.
The Indonesian captain, Chosmus Palandi, 48, was jailed for seven years and fined almost $334,200. Even though the case was heard in June this year, the Indonesian authorities revealed
the verdict on 22 July.
Indonesia’s environment ministry mentioned on 22 July that it’s committed to pursuing the matter, which is a cross-border corporate crime.
It wants to trace the source of the toxic cargo and is seeking to prosecute any other firm or party involved.
Active coordination with the Indonesian embassy based in Singapore is done, and relevant authorities will look deeper into this case, as reported by the law enforcement director-general, Rasio Ridho Sani.
The case may also go beyond a penalty for only the ship’s captain. Indonesia’s ministry of the environment is collaborating with the Indonesian embassy in Singapore to track down the cargo’s
origin. Singaporean authorities earlier cited Cramoil Singapore for discharging untreated wastewater.
