The Indonesian navy arrested two foreign-flagged tankers attempting to smuggle crude palm oil or CPO.

The navy arrested mt world tanker on its way from Dumai in Riau province to India in the Indonesian part of Malacca strait waters.

Meanwhile another vessel, MT Annabelle bound for Sharjah, UAE was arrested in west Kalimantan waters leaving from Kijing seaport in Pontianak.

The Indonesian government banned export of CPO and its derivatives to meet the domestic demand and to prevent an abnormal price hike at home this ban is in effect until the price is back to normal.

MT World progress is a Liberian-flagged tanker owned by a Russian national Beloy Alexander. 22 foreign crew members are on that tanker, 7 Russian, 6 Ukrainian, and 9 Indian. The ship is suspected of violating documents with contrasting documents on what’s really on board and on paper.

In a separate place, the navy also arrested MT Annabelle tanker transporting illegal 13,357,425 metric tons CPO and 98 drums methanol, 5 sealed and 93 empty drums in the west Kalimantan waters. MT Annabelle is a marshal island flagged tanker with Chinese national captain and 24 crew members. The vessel is suspected of criminal offenses illegally carrying methanol cargo not equipped with documents for transporting dangerous goods.

Smuggling and illegal shipping of cooking oil and its raw materials abroad is alleged to be one of the causes of the recent cooking oil scarcity and abnormal price hike in Indonesia that the Indonesian government is trying to stop.

by TVRI