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Owners pay US$300,000 to release ships detained by Indonesian navy near Singapore
- Around 30 ships have been detained by the Indonesian navy in the Singapore Strait in the last three months and most have been released after making payoffs
- The force denied receiving or asking for money, saying it was cracking down on vessels anchoring in Indonesian waters without a licence
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More than a dozen shipowners have made payments of about US$300,000 apiece to release vessels detained by the Indonesian navy, which said they were anchored illegally in the country’s waters near Singapore, according to sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
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The dozen sources include shipowners, crew and maritime security sources all involved in the detentions and payments, which they say were either made in cash to naval officers or via bank transfer to intermediaries who told them they represented the Indonesian navy.
Reuters was not able to independently confirm that payments were made to naval officers or establish who the final recipients of the payments were.
The detentions and payments were first reported by Lloyd’s List Intelligence, an industry website.
Rear Admiral Arsyad Abdullah, the Indonesian naval fleet commander for the region, said that no payments were made to the navy and also that it did not employ any intermediaries in legal cases.
“It is not true that the Indonesian navy received or asked for payment to release the ships,” Abdullah said.
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